


The Orange

by canidswain



Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: (Kieran and Arthur), Alcohol, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Flirting, Bisexual Arthur Morgan, Blizzards & Snowstorms, Colter - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, David is ND it's never said but it is highly implied, Drunk Dancing, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Gay Kieran Duffy, Huddling For Warmth, Hunting, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Bad At Tagging, Injury Recovery, Introspection, Miscommunication, Multi, Neurodiversity, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Period-Typical Homophobia, Polyamory, Relationship(s), Self-Doubt, Sharing a Bed, Snowed In, Trans Male Character, Werewolves, no ones homophobic but they talk about society being it, that's David and it's not a big thing but it's mentiomed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:48:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 21,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29139546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canidswain/pseuds/canidswain
Summary: Its coat was grey and brown, collecting in a mane around its neck and great, loose furls around its joints - thick and muscular hind legs that it was leaning forward on, even with shoulders and front legs that looked morehumanthan canine. Furry, no doubt, but- it hadhands. Great, padded, clawed hands that could grasp the buck and tear its flesh, while its tail wagged lazily behind it.“Wh-what the fuck is that?”Arthur jumped, getting so lost in his own bewilderment that he forgot Kieran was there. Luckily, the wolf hadn’t noticed them yet, still caught up in its meal. Reaching slowly for his rifle, Arthur nodded at Kieran to grab his own. They sized it up - it was distracted, vulnerable. Arthur cocked his gun.Its ears twitched, head snapping towards them. For a moment, it seemed to look at Arthur - look him directly in the eye. Its head tilted. Blood still coated its muzzle.Then there was a shot, and it wailed.---This is literally just an OC x canon fic and I know people generally don't like to read those but please give it a chance!! I've been working on this on and off for months so it would make me so happy if people read it!
Relationships: Arthur Morgan/Original Male Character(s), Kieran Duffy/Arthur Morgan, Kieran Duffy/Arthur Morgan/Original Male Character(s), Kieran Duffy/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 23





	1. At lunchtime I bought a huge orange—

**Author's Note:**

> HI OK SO A PREFACE !!!
> 
> as the summary said, this is an oc x canon fic. but ive put a lot of time, effort and love into it and it would make my entire life if people read it. i encourage you to comment if you enjoy it, pls pls pls ! comments fuel me !!! :]
> 
> ive been writing this on and off since september 2020, whenever my rdr2 hyperfixation reignited, and i finally finished it. there are 12 chapters, and ill be posting monday wednesday friday until theyre all uploaded :]!!
> 
> the chapter titles are all lines from one of my favourite poems, the orange by wendy cope. i picked it because i think it fits the vibe i wanted the story to have

Despite the suffocating heat hanging like fog around the trees of Clemens Point, Arthur was packing his winter coat and layers into one of Duffy's saddlebags. Nestled into the thick folds of his blue overcoat were several more tins of canned fruit that he couldn't fit into his satchel, some predator bait and plenty of cover scent lotion. He secured the straps, gave Duffy's flank a couple of pats and turned to watch the rest of the camp slowly crawling out of their various states of doziness.

The sun wasn't yet high, meaning the heat that clung to the sweaty back of Arthur's neck was the tamer end of the temperatures they endured here. He'd be glad to get up to the frigid chill of the Grizzlies - when you had plenty of food and plenty of layers, it was practically serene.

Arthur was drawn out of his lazy pondering by a frazzled figure brushing past him on the way to another horse. Kieran busied himself with shoving his own (borrowed) winter gear into Branwen's bags and murmuring encouragement into the dopey horse's ear. Coyly smiling at the man, Arthur stretched and turned to properly watch him over Duffy's saddle. "You about ready?"

Doeish eyes peered back at him, "J-just about, I think. You sure we shouldn't bring more food? You got the tent?"

"We got as much to last us the way there and back twice over, ya nitwit. And if we run out by some cruel act of God then we got weapons, we'll just catch something, alright?"

"Yes, yes, alright," Kieran fumbled with Branwen's girth, "But you got the tent?"

"Yes, Christ, I got the tent. We'll be fine." he paused, picking a spot of grit from Duffy’s mane, “Mind you, I don’t know why we need it, considerin’ we’ll be just fine and cosy in one of the smaller rooms up at Colter.”

“Just in case.”

Taking a chance while the rest of the camp was still sleepy and scattered, Arthur slipped around Duffy's rear and brushed up against his companion. A flush quickly coloured Kieran's neck and cheeks, as he “accidentally” bumped up against Arthur's broad chest while fixing Branwen's bit. It wasn't often they got these small moments of intimacy while in camp, nowhere private for them (neither of them being very keen on public displays of affection). That was mostly the reason they were heading out together - some time alone.

Arthur saw John on watch with his rifle, eyeing them curiously, but when his eyes met his brother's he nodded and turned away. As far as Arthur was aware no one in camp would have any issue with them (save Bill and Micah), but they still preferred to keep to themselves. He gave Kieran's ear a sly peck and stepped away, checking over Duffy's saddle one last time before unhitching him and mounting up.

Following close behind, Kieran steered Branwen around towards the path leading out of camp. Together, they trotted away - Arthur giving one last goodbye to John as they passed - and broke into canters once they cleared the trees.

"So it's a wolf we're after?"

Kieran didn't wait long before breaking the silence. Leading them North, Arthur sniffed, "Some peace an' quiet's what we're after. But yeah, was a wolf they said."

Arthur couldn't see the shy smile on Kieran's face but he could hear it. "You call huntin' a wolf size of a bear 'peace an' quiet'?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah," Kieran rode up next to him on the wider road, "S'pose I do."

For a while now, Arthur had been looking for an excuse to get Kieran out of camp and somewhere they could relax. In reality, he could have lied - a bounty, a wild horse he'd seen needing breaking, so on - but he'd been too busy with errands to even think about running off with his boyfriend for a few days. Too much to do. Too many mouths to feed, scores to make.

So when he'd heard from a couple of drunks in Rhodes about a wolf the size of a small bear up in the Grizzlies, he'd taken the chance. Could be complete bullshit passed from alcohol-sodden fool to alcohol-sodden fool, but could also be true and mean food for a good long while and a unique pelt that would earn him something more than a deerskin would.

And some free time with Kieran.

The story was that this wolf was elusive, appearing only at night and only for a few days of the month - around the full moon, how romantic. It sounded as phony as phony comes, but worse comes to worst - they could find a bear up there to lug back.

As their ride inclined, Arthur murmured soothing praise to his horse, petting his thick neck. "S'all right, Duffy boy, you're okay."

"Did- Did you have to name him that?"

A smile twitched at the corner of Arthur's lips, as he readied himself for his favourite quarrel, "Course I did."

"Arthur, I'm flattered, but you know I know it gets confusin'." Kieran grated at his ear.

"Yeah, hell, sometimes I can't even tell the diff'rence between you two. Yer both cute 's each other." The smile grew to a lazy grin, a jaunty angle to his hips.

Kieran scoffed, "Oh, mister, you think you're so smooth - it ain't that flatterin' being compared to a horse, despite what you might think, Morgan."

"And you know's well as I do that that's a damn lie. You love it just as much as you love these horses. Don't think I don't see you fussin' and kissin' all over 'em every hour, boy."

His companion slipped into sulky but flustered silence after that, and Arthur sat back in satisfaction. Another victory in flirting.

In truth, Arthur had thought at great lengths about the naming of his horse. The name came to him just fine - Duffy, because the stallion's withered grey dappled coat and soft eyes reminded him of his beloved - but he wondered about the consequences for a great long while. He knew it wouldn't offend Kieran (in fact Arthur was quite sure he'd love it), however he thought about how long it would take before calling his horse and getting his boyfriend's accidental attention instead would get annoying.

So far, it hadn't. It was quite charming to call his horse and catch Kieran glancing around in bemusion. He didn't regret his choice in the slightest.

They rode on as the sun slowly climbed, hoping to get out of the south before it got too high. They planned to stop in Valentine for a spot of breakfast, give the horses a break after a few hours of riding, then set off again and take a detour up to Donner Falls. They were in no rush to get to Colter, wanted to spend plenty of time off their horses and lounging about with each other in the sun. They’d eat lunch - tinned fruit and poultry meat - in the shade of the ledge next to the waterfall, out of sight of anyone travelling above them. Keep themselves to themselves, and their affections neatly hidden away under the ridge.

All in all, Arthur thought he’d planned this beautifully. And Kieran had no protests, so clearly he was doing something right.

With the sun making its steady ascent, they turned into Valentine. Arthur’s pocketwatch said around nine in the morning. Hitching up outside Smith’s, Arthur let Kieran ahead into the saloon and followed briskly behind.

Soon enough they were both seated at the bar with steaming bowls of beef stew in front of them and their thighs inconspicuously touching. As they ate, they discussed the plan. If they made good time, they’d get to Colter before sunset, in time to catch something to use as real bait. Predator bait was alright, but Arthur wanted to be sure, and he was convinced something big and recently dead would be much more tempting for their canine compatriot.

They’d leave it out strung up somewhere, have their own dinner, then hopefully squeeze in an hour or two’s rest before staying up the rest of the night waiting for it. If the wolf showed, they’d shoot it. If it didn’t, they’d find something else (considerably less impressive) to take home. Arthur had been smart in not boasting about his find - so no one knew what to expect from their little hunting trip. If they brought back something that wasn’t a magnanimous wolf, he’d suffer no ridicule or needling from the more immature members of the gang. And lord knows he was tired of that by now.

As it neared ten o’ clock, the two finished up their conversation and thanked the bartender greatly. They mounted back up, bellies still warm, to begin the trek off-course towards Donner Falls. Arthur saw his companion feeding Branwen an oatcake out of the corner of his eye, and smiled and hummed a tune.

A few hours later, with the sun reaching its peak, they carefully led the horses down the gravel slope towards the river. Kieran’s long fingers fished another two carrots from his pocket and the horses settled just fine. A few feet away, Arthur was smoothing out the tent's tarp on the dusty rock floor - to act as a sort of picnic blanket - while Kieran carted over their food to rest in the creases.

Leaning against each other and the wall, Arthur and Kieran ate and laughed and messed around. When Kieran noticed the strawberry juice that the rim of the can had left on Arthur’s nose, he was bold enough to lean forward and lick it off. It wasn’t often he got to see that deep, rosy blush that reddened Arthur’s entire face - even spreading to his ears and down his throat. Instantly he turned to cough unconvincingly into his sleeve, trying and failing to conceal how flustered he was. Kieran sat back and chuckled.

“When did you get so daring, huh?” came muffled from the hand now scrubbing restlessly over Arthur’s stubble. The blush still didn’t fade.

Kieran hummed in the back of his throat, eyes sliding away and towards Branwen grazing at what little grass was poking up between the cracks in the rock. “It rubs off, I expect.”

“Now what’s your meanin’?”

Another hoarse laugh was Kieran’s response, and he found himself sidling closer and settling on Arthur’s lap, not yet leaning in so far as to let their lips meet. “My _meanin’_ is that hangin’ around such a fearless fella as yourself has its perks, you fool. I don’t find myself- well, quite as skittish.”

Now it was Arthur’s turn to laugh, “Oh, you’re still plenty skittish.”

“Morgan, you ass!” a playful slap against Arthur’s shoulder, “I’m less, at least. You… make me feel stronger. And I ain’t being all soppy when I say that-”

Arthur silenced him with a kiss. “I know what you’re meanin’, you buffoon,” he edged away ever so slightly to mumble, “I feel the same way.”

“I wouldn’t think you could be any stronger, yer built like a bear, darlin’.” Kieran’s tongue darted out over his chapped lips, still just centimetres from Arthur’s.

“Naw, you ain’t seen in my head. Lately… Kieran, lately I been feelin’ myself… _doubtin’_. Doubtin’ Dutch, his plan, the West.” Arthur widened the distance between them, leaning back with his mouth drawing into a hard and troubled line. “It just don’t seem doable anymore. Don’t… don’t seem nothing more but childish daydreams.”

“Arthur…”

Waving him off, the man continued, “Naw, naw, it’s fine. Had t’ grow up eventually.” Kieran frowned at the forlorn gaze that had come to Arthur’s eyes, but he nodded softly. Meeting his eyes, Arthur brought a hand up to rest on Kieran’s cheek, stroking down along his jaw. “Oh, but you, Kieran… Yer the only thing I’m always certain of. Like a- I dunno, a tree.”

“...A tree?”

“Now don’t go judgin’ my metaphors, I ain’t so much the literary type. You’re solid, sturdy, and, um,” he sniffed, “You got roots, too, buried deep in my life so I know you ain’t goin’ anywhere. Yer my anchor, really.”

“Arthur, I-”

“You don’t gotta say nothin’. I just- I just wanted you to know. Thought you ought to.”

A moment, then Kieran lowered his head to tuck softly in Arthur’s neck. “I think you’re mighty fine, Arthur Morgan.”

The sounds of wheels and hooves above them faded into gentle background music, with the accompaniment of the forest noises and the roar of the river down below. Kieran had shifted down to lay against Arthur, his ear to the other’s chest, and his eyes closed as he listened to the melody that was his boyfriend’s breathing. Noting with concern the slight rattle, he made a mental note to badger Arthur into seeing a doctor - never could be too careful. With that thought put aside for later, he lifted a hand above him to feel around; up Arthur’s neck, over his bushy jaw, until his knobbly fingers curled in the waves of the man’s hair.

Contentment, Kieran thought. He felt a lot around Arthur, unbearably so, so many thoughts and emotions building inside him and winding around his insides that he thought he might keel over and die just by looking at him. But contentment, he realised, was always there. In moments like these, it came to the forefront, snaking around his heart and pooling in his gut like sweetly-brewed coffee.

Happiness was so rare until now.


	2. The size of it made us all laugh.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur fails to account for something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heres chapter 2!! :] again leave comments if u enjoy!!! they are such encouragement

Maybe he’d dropped off for a bit. Kieran opened his eyes and suddenly Arthur was nudging him off, giving him a sweet kiss but urging him away so they could pack up and move on. Disappointment weighed on Kieran, but nevertheless he packed away the empty cans (no sense spoiling such a beautiful spot) and untethered their horses, beginning to lead them back up the path.

Minutes later, with the tent packed away, they were riding on. Finally up to Colter.

The pathways slowly inclined, their horses chuntering away underneath them. Arthur glanced over at Kieran as snow began to appear around them, noting his wide eyes and slightly troubled expression. “What’s on your mind?”

“Well, I- I don’t mean to be ungrateful, Arthur, but Colter ain’t exactly a happy place in my memory.”

Arthur mentally punched himself. He’d been so caught up in the romance of it all that he’d forgotten that Kieran had still been a prisoner up there with an empty belly. He brought Duffy to a stop at where the hill they were climbing levelled off, dismounting. Stopping beside him, Kieran gazed down from atop Branwen, perplexed. “C’mon down, now.” Arthur held out his hand to help his companion down, the gentlemanly thing to do.

Ignoring Arthur’s gesture with skepticism, Kieran slid down and blinked in expectation. Arthur dug through Branwen’s saddlebags until he found Kieran’s winter coat and turned back to him, easing around until he could comfortably help his lover into it. Kieran looked amused now, but still confused.

“I’m sorry, Kieran. The big, dumb oaf I am, it.. It completely slipped my mind. We can turn back if you want, or find somewhere else to hole up, but I’m mighty embarrassed that I forgot it that easy.” He did up the buttons, smoothed down the front. “You.. you got every right to be mad at me, the buffoon I am, and whatever you want me to do to make it up to you, I-I will.”

Arthur was pointedly looking down, away from Kieran’s face - his eyes that would no doubt be wounded and full of venom. He’d screwed up so bad, as he always did. Kieran would never forgive him.

Instead, hands met the line of his jaw and gently tipped his head up. Kieran was there, looking touched, not resentful. “It’s- it’s okay, you big dummy. I forgive you. Maybe… I think maybe it’ll be nice to be up there, just with you, might make me feel better about bein’ there. Make some new memories, yeah?”

Blinking, Arthur jerkily nodded. “Uh, yeah. Yeah.”

They both geared up properly before continuing into the mountains, treating Duffy and Branwen to some oatcakes. When Arthur could see his breath crystallising in front of him, he smiled, looking up and around at the twinkling masses of white coating everything around them. Kieran was gazing around just the same, his nose red and face ruddy from the cold. By now, the sun was lowering from its highest position. Late afternoon.

Lake Isabella was completely frozen over as they galloped past, a few deer skittering away at the crunching of their hooves in the snow. Up past the lake, along the river through the gorge a while until they saw Colter in the distance. A complete ghost town, the only noises being the whistle of the icy wind through the gaps in rotting wooden shacks and the animals that skirted through the empty pathways and rooms.

Even Branwen seemed skittish as they trotted towards it, probably remembering his owner being strung up in the stables for a week. Arthur felt another wave of guilt hit him, but it softened ever so slightly when he looked over to see the steely determination etched into the lines on Kieran’s forehead. He wasn’t angry, he reassured himself. This would be a nice time, and if it wasn’t, he was happy to leave as soon as Kieran said the word.

But so far Kieran seemed like he’d snarl if Arthur even implied leaving. They steered towards the stable, made their horses comfortable, and Arthur grabbed his bow. They’d leave their sleeping things with the horses for now, no use getting them all cold by leaving them in the house. For now, they had bait to catch.

Trekking back through the snow, Kieran and Arthur waded along the gorg and towards Lake Isabella. Arthur had come to his own conclusions that wildlife was more likely to gather around the lake, so that was where they’d find their bait. He was thinking a buck, maybe a moose if they were lucky enough to spot one. His arrows were all carefully improved, poking out of his satchel and itching to embed themselves in some tough wild meat. Beside him, Kieran clutched the herbivore bait he’d brought along.

“Y’know, I’m gettin’ awful déjà vu out here.” Arthur began, watching his breath fade in front of him.

“That right?”

“Yeah. See, Hosea taught me how to hunt when I was a boy, but I never much had the regular use for it ‘til we got up here. Skills got a little rusty, so Charles took me out here to remind me how to track, use a bow, the lot. You know how to hunt?”

Kieran was thumbing over the bait, fiddling with the string tying it together, “Bits ‘n’ pieces, mostly. But I’m a fisherman at heart, you know that. I can catch a rabbit but I ain’t much for the kinda stuff I seen you take down.”

They were nearing the lake now. Arthur was watching Kieran’s fingers twitching and his lip being worried between his teeth. “You nervous at all?”

Kieran looked at him like he had grown a second head. “Christ, Arthur, yes I’m nervous! I-it’s one thing takin’ down a four pound bluegill, but a _wolf?_ And- and you said it’s bear-sized?”

“Kieran, it’s only a rumour. And ‘sides, you’ll be fine. You got me, don’tcha?” Their shoulders nudged together as Arthur leaned closer.

“You’ll be of no use to me if you go and get yerself eaten, and I’ll be next. Oh boy…”

A laugh bubbled up from inside Arthur, hearty and warm. Kieran glanced away, blushing - two parts embarrassment one part fluster.

A few feet away, the ice spread out ahead, some deer grazing on the other side. “That one in the middle,” Kieran indicated a heavy-set buck, “that’ll do?”

“Yeah, that one looks perfect. We just gotta sneak ‘round that side and leave the bait, draw it away from the others.” Arthur’s voice had dropped to a soft murmur that darkened the colour of Kieran’s cheeks even further.

Humming a moment, Kieran gazed at the herd, “Hmm, you sure we couldn’t just get it from ‘cross here? They ain’t seen us, and you got a steady aim, don’tcha?”

“Maybe. It’s pretty closed in by the others - but if it raised its head I reckon I’d have a clean shot.”

All of a sudden Arthur felt Kieran’s hand clutch his shoulder, squeezing. “Alright then. Get ready.”

“ _Boy, whatchu mean-_ ”

Without further warning, Kieran stuck his fingers in his mouth and let out a shrill whistle that seemed to echo through the entire valley. Arthur stumbled to get his bow out in front of him as the buck’s head snapped upwards, closely followed by the rest of the herd. Before they could turn and flee, Arthur had flipped an arrow across his string and sent it zipping across the lake.

As they carried the buck back to Colter between them, Arthur nagged at Kieran for not giving him a better warning, for such impulsive thinking, but there was fondness and pride in his tone. It was reckless and could have lost the deer, yet they made an excellent team and had their bait.

They left it a ways away from Colter, a couple dozen yards or so, secured tightly to a tree with its belly slit for the scent to carry. As they walked back to Colter, Arthur checked the time - almost six. They’d eat, set up their sleeping space, and squeeze a nap in before the hunt really began.

Kieran offered to get the fire going while Arthur stopped off at the stables to grab their things. Pushing open the stable doors, Arthur was immediately met with both Branwen and Duffy nickering at him for attention - or treats, more likely. He laughed, gave them both an apple, made sure they had plenty of hay (sodden from the damp, but it’d have to do), and began unpacking their saddlebags.

When he shuffled into the room, laden down with supplies, Kieran immediately rushed over to help him carry them. They had picked the schoolhouse that the women and John had been in - it was smaller, but Arthur had found that it held heat a lot better than the shack he’d been in with Hosea and Dutch. The fire was already blazing in the hearth, Kieran had even dragged some extra (freezing) linens from the wardrobe and laid them out before the flames to warm up. Arthur squeezed some cans into the ashes around the blaze, packing them in best he could without burning his fingers. They then busied themselves with spreading out their bedrolls on the floor, side by side.

Once the food was thoroughly cooked, they sat shoulder to shoulder on the bedrolls, swallowing baked beans and cooked vegetables in the chill of the Colter snow. The fire burned pleasantly before them, but the wind still got in through the cracks in the walls and roof. Arthur found himself thinking what a good excuse freezing would be to cuddle even closer to Kieran tonight.

After they’d finished their meal, they got comfortable on the floor of the cabin. Kieran’s back pressed against Arthur’s front, their legs winding together as Arthur’s solid arms found their way around Kieran’s middle. He kissed at the spot where Kieran’s neck met the top of his back - where a vertebra stuck out and made a hard little bump under Arthur’s lips.

Kieran was already drifting off. Arthur smiled into his spine and breathed deep, longing for a longer rest than just a few hours.


	3. I peeled it and shared it with Robert and Dave—

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME TO MY FAVOURITE CHAPTER BABYYYY  
> as always leave comments if u enjoy!!!

A howl was what woke Arthur. He dragged himself blearily upright, disturbing Kieran who rubbed at his face and mumbled something Arthur didn’t pick up on. Fumbling for the hat he’d set down by the hearth, he shook Kieran a little and let his eyes come into focus. Dark outside - he checked his watch, the sun set probably around an hour or two ago. “C’mon boy, we gotta go check the bait. Keep watch.”

All that he heard in return was more unintelligible grumbling, sounding more irritable than before. Arthur allowed himself a weary smile before getting to his feet and grabbing his rifle. By now Kieran was watching him through droopy eyelids, his face looking loose and grouchy. “Didn’tchu say you didn’t wanna see me get eaten? C’mon, I can’t take this thing down on my own.” Arthur nudged Kieran’s foot with the butt of his gun.

“Fine,” Kieran dragged it out, drawling with a rough twang, “‘S cold down here anyways…”

Together they made their way silently outside, wary of how close the howl had sounded. Then again, sound echoed and carried out here, but they could never be too careful. They headed out to where they’d left the buck, finding a large rock to crouch behind a dozen or so feet away. Still seeing it hanging there (with no tracks around it, at least that Arthur could see from this far away), they resolved to wait it out in the cold.

“You feelin’ any better now?” he whispered, turning to Kieran.

He seemed to catch Kieran stuck in his own thoughts, as he blinked for a few moments before jerking his head up, “Oh? I’m still nervous, yeah.”

“No, don’t mean that part. I gotchu there, don’t worry darlin’. I’m meaning…” he shuffled a little closer, so that their thighs could touch and he could feel Kieran’s hot breath condensing on his cheek. “You still uneasy ‘bout being up here? We- we don’t gotta be, we can ride back down right now. I know a couple cabins further down the mountains, where it ain’t so snowy. Only take an hour to get there, ‘m sure.”

He caught the twitch at the end of Kieran’s lip - the beginnings of a nervous little smile. “No, I-” he seemed to want to say something for a moment, but caught himself. “Actually… I-in truth, I… I was doing fine, I think, it was nice eatin’ up here. But then I- Christ it’s childish. I had a nightmare.”

“That ain’t childish. What’s childish is me forgettin’ all that happened up here and expectin’ you to be okay. You… wanna talk about it?” He found one hand snaking up Kieran’s back, resting there.

Kieran pointedly fixed his gaze above the rock, letting out a stuttery little sigh. “It’s- It’s dumb. Dreamed back when we first met. ‘Cept… you kept- y’kept comin’ into the stable, tauntin’ me, and it was so _awful_ , ‘cause I was so sure that we… well, y’know. Like we are now. But you was so… cold, ‘n’ cruel, Arthur. I know it ain’t real now, but I thought it was. Thought I lost you.”

“Hey…” It killed Arthur to see a watery sheen in Kieran’s eyes; he left his rifle discarded next to him, raising his other hand to cup Kieran’s cheek and run his thumb under his eye. “That ain’t dumb. You ain’t dumb for bein’ scared like that. ‘Specially when we’re up here, brought all those mem’ries back, huh?” His thumb smudged a tear across Kieran’s cheekbone, the hand on his back coming to cradle the back of his partner’s head. “I’m scared like that ev’ry damn day. So scared I’m gonna do the wrong thing, be too much of a damn brute, and send you packin’. It ain’t just you, darlin’, you ain’t bein’ stupid.”

Gently, Arthur pulled Kieran toward him and let him crowd in close, head burying into Arthur’s collar. “I’m sorry ev’ry damn day that we had to have met like that. I’m sorry I was a coward and took so long to stop bein' a pigheaded prick, ‘n’ sorry that I pushed you away. But I’m here now, sweetheart, I ain’t goin' anywhere. I promise, and if you need me to remind you ev’ry mornin’ and ev’ry night, I will.”

“Arthur…” He heard, quiet and choked in his coat’s fabric.

“Shh, it’s okay, you’re okay, boy. I’m here. You wanna go?”

A few seconds, then Kieran pulled back to look at him. His eyes were still tired-looking, cheeks wet, but he had a sort of lively glint in his pupils and the wrinkles around his eyes. “No- no. I wanna stay. Wanna catch that damn wolf.”

Arthur smiled, soft and proud. “Attaboy. Guess you weren’t lyin’ when you said you ain’t ’s skittish no more.”

“See, I told you! Maybe… maybe that wolf can even be- well, hell, a symbol of getting over this place.”

“Well ain’tchu poetic.” Arthur grinned, mousing his fingers through Kieran’s beard.

They talked for a while longer, in hushed and excited tones, as the moon hung high and stars blinked through the clouds coating the sky. Both of them fell into a sense of quiet, listening to the voices of the wildlife around them and the whistle of the wind through the air. A few times Arthur had to nudge Kieran awake again - Arthur didn’t have so much trouble staying awake, which should have really concerned him more than it did. He pushed the thought of when he’d last had a proper night’s sleep to the back of his mind.

Hours passed - Arthur snorted fully awake as the sky began to lighten ever so slightly. The moon was gone from the sky, having dipped below the mountains around the valley. He shook Kieran awake and turned to kneel up and peer over the rock.

It was there. The wolf was standing proudly by the tree with its snout buried in the deer, ears flicking in contentment. Arthur took his time examining the creature - those drunks were right, it was immense. Not quite as large as a bear, but he thought perhaps the fact that it was _resting on its back legs_ lended to its height. Its coat was grey and brown, collecting in a mane around its neck and great, loose furls around its joints - thick and muscular hind legs that it was leaning forward on, even with shoulders and front legs that looked more _human_ than canine. Furry, no doubt, but- it had _hands_. Great, padded, clawed hands that could grasp the buck and tear its flesh, while its tail wagged lazily behind it.

“Wh-what the fuck is that?”

Arthur jumped, getting so lost in his own bewilderment that he forgot Kieran was there. Luckily, the wolf hadn’t noticed them yet, still caught up in its meal. Reaching slowly for his rifle, Arthur nodded at Kieran to grab his own. They sized it up - it was distracted, vulnerable. Arthur cocked his gun.

Its ears twitched, head snapping towards them. For a moment, it seemed to look at Arthur - look him directly in the eye. Its head tilted. Blood still coated its muzzle.

Then there was a shot, and it wailed. Arthur realised it wasn’t from his gun. He looked over to see Kieran still aiming, eyes wide and face slowly breaking out in a smile. “I hit it!”

Arthur looked back in time to see the wolf ambling away, limping and whining. Even wounded, it moved fast, but the trail of blood in the snow would lead them right to it. “Yeah, you did. Good job, now let’s git after it.”

Slinging his rifle over his back, Arthur hopped the rock and took off in the direction of the blood. The sky was lightening, he could see, the sun no doubt hidden just below the mountains. He could hear Kieran crunching through the snow just behind him, fixated on the trail. It took them further away from Colter, down towards the lake, until they spotted a figure slumped in the snow. Arthur didn’t have time to think about how there was considerably less fur until he was within a few metres of it.

There was no wolf to be seen. Just a man, struggling to get up, ass-naked in the snow. He felt his face heat up, knowing Kieran’s would be doing just the same.

The man was facing away from them, legs tightly folded towards him as he struggled to put his weight on one. Thick brown hair hung down his back and around in the snow, his frame large and heaving. From where he was standing, Arthur could see the skin on the bottom of his feet, where it seemed to darken and form sort of pads. His toes were clawed.

He had a tail. Long and grey-brown, beating against the snow.

“Hey, fella, are you-”

Whipping around, the stranger cut him off with a sudden and guttural snarl. Arthur stepped back, alarmed, as he took in yellowish eyes, pointed teeth, and large and fuzzy grey ears that pinned back against the man’s head like a stressed horse. The blood on his teeth and around his mouth. Within seconds though, he’d flinched back, crawling away and trying in vain to cover himself with one arm while he dragged with the other.

Arthur saw the issue - he had a bulletwound in his thigh.

“Hey, calm down, it’s alright. C’mon, we’ll getchu outta here, you’ll catch yer death.”

Already undoing his coat, Arthur kept an eye on the shivering man - the clawed hands with the same strange and calloused pads as the feet (also coated with blood), the tail now tucking between his legs, the terrified expression on his face.

“Please- please don’t hurt me, I-”

“We ain’t gonna hurt you, mister. There’s an old minin’ town near here, we’ll take you there, getchu settled.” Kieran was kneeling down towards him, holding out his hand. The strange man growled again, but it wheedled off into a whine. His accent was distinctly British-sounding - not the uppity drawl Arthur was used to from pompous fools Hosea cheated, but provincial and rough.

Now it was Arthur’s turn to crouch next to him, opening up his coat to set around the stranger’s shoulders. “C’mon, you’ll either freeze out here or that wound’ll get infected. We can help.”

Slowly, hesitantly, the man allowed himself to be helped up, the coat buttoned up. His arms slung over Kieran and Arthur’s shoulders as they guided him back up the path towards Colter. It was slow-going, him limping the whole way and almost dragging them down in the snow on several occasions. Eventually, there Colter appeared, looking like an oasis in a desert.

They helped him back towards the room their bedrolls were in. Kieran broke off from the pair to bolt the door behind them and drag the camp bed in the corner over closer to the fire. Together, they lowered the man down onto the bed. “That wardrobe you found the linens in - check if there’s any old clothes for our friend.”

While Kieran searched through the wardrobe, Arthur crouched down by the stranger still trembling where he lay, one leg crossed over the other. He pulled his first aid things from his satchel, setting down a health tonic by his leg. Taking a breath, he passed a piece of thick leather to the man. “Bite on that. It’ll help.”

Some excruciating minutes later, the bullet was out, the leg bandaged, and Arthur was passing their friend the tonic. He drank with some disgust, hissing at the taste but swallowing it all. “Good man, you did good.”

Kieran returned with a large, moth-bitten white overshirt and some brown workpants. The stranger got the shirt on fine himself, but Arthur helped him into the pants and back down onto the bed. They took one of the linens from the floor and tucked him in, his eyes beginning to look heavier.

While they still had him conscious, Arthur took the chance, “I’m Arthur, this is Kieran. And who’d you be?”

The stranger blinked for a few moments. He looked like he wasn’t entirely there.

“David.”

“Howdy, David. You get some rest now, let that leg heal up.”

Arthur and Kieran shared a look.

When they were sure David was out cold, the two sat down before the all but dead fire and tried to get their bearings. The sun was rising now, the day beginning, but both of them were sleep-deprived and struggling to comprehend what they’d seen.

“That… that weren’t just me, right? You saw it too?” Kieran’s voice was quiet, raw.

“If- if yer meanin’ the wolf, then. Yeah. Was definitely a wolf, and then..”

Their hands found each others. “And then it wasn’t.”

The silence stretched out between them, the only sounds the wind rattling around the doorframe and David’s laboured breathing next to them. Arthur felt Kieran’s hand shaking in his.

“He was a wolf when you shot him. You didn’t know-”

“We should get this fire goin’,” Kieran pulled away from him and stood, shoulders tight, “We promised he wouldn’t freeze.”

After a moment, watching Kieran’s guarded face, Arthur nodded. “Alright.” Together they built the fire up until it was crackling heartily, then slumped back down in front of it with aching bones. Arthur once again took Kieran’s hand in his, now tugging it into his lap and running his fingers over it, feeling the taut skin and swollen knuckles.

“Hosea used to tell me stories ‘bout… men who could turn into beasts, roamed through the woods and ate anyone who got lost. But when I got older I just figured they was old tales to keep kids from wanderin’ off at night.”

Leaning against his shoulder, Kieran nodded, whispering, “My Mammy and Pappy taught me old stories from back in Ireland, the legends. One of ‘em were called the Werewolves of Ossory,” Kieran’s unfortunately American drawl took away any mystique that could have come from the ancient name, “Said they were a gang of men who’d wear wolfskins and kill livestock, ‘cept some folk would swear they weren’t just wearin’ skins. They’d say they wore the wolves themselves, changed themselves and their bodies. Just ancient stories, but… I dunno. What we seen definitely ain’t just a story.”

“You got that right.” Arthur looked over to where their guest was sleeping, examined his features. Now that he was still, Arthur could see the way his face seemed to elongate ever so slightly around the nose and mouth - like a stumpy little snout. His teeth fit into his mouth too clumsily to look comfortable (his mouth even hung open as he slept, showcasing the dull-looking fangs). It all seemed pretty inconvenient.

For another short while they sat in silence, gathering their thoughts. Eventually, when Arthur’s watch read seven o’ clock, Kieran saw it fit to go check on the horses. Arthur watched him go for a moment, sighing out of his nose. A few minutes later, he stood and dragged a chair over to where David was resting. His coat had been abandoned on the floor once they’d gotten David into his new clothes, so he hauled it back on and settled down on the chair. Some journaling to pass the time.

He flipped to his recent page, seeing a passage about the wolf story on the page before, and put a pencil to paper.

_Kieran and I did end up coming up to Colter. I was an idiot as usual and managed to astoundingly forget what he endured up here, but he insists that he is fine and that being here will do him some good. I am skeptical, however I have never been one to question others that often. The wolf we were hunting turned out not to be a wolf at all - we have met a man who calls himself David, but I am not so sure he’s a man more than he is a beast. We’ve exchanged only a couple of words before he passed out - shock, I guess - and haven’t gotten much out of him past his name. I am looking forward to hearing his story._

His writings took up a whole page, so he turned over and hesitated for a moment. Eyes skipping over to David’s face, Arthur slowly traced the soft line of his jaw onto the parchment. That trailed up to a rough outline of his velvety-looking ears, then his gentle brow and broad nose. Arthur flicked his wrist to capture the way David’s tangled hair spread out on the pillow underneath him, sketched delicately his peaceful expression, his long eyelashes and the teeth jutting from his lips. The blood still encrusted around his mouth.

David was quite handsome, Arthur found himself thinking. And then he was blushing, and snapping his journal closed. No need to be having those thoughts about a man (or a wolf) they’d shot in the leg only an hour previous. He massaged the bridge of his nose. And despite it all, he found himself watching tenderly as David mumbled distressedly in his sleep and turned over, pulling the blanket up to expose his back. With carefulness he wasn’t used to, Arthur tugged it back down and tucked it around their slumbering friend.

It was about that point that Kieran returned, saying that the horses were doing about as alright as could be expected up here. “Bad news, though.”

Arthur turned, raising an eyebrow.

“There’s a snowstorm comin’ in. So unless we pack up right now ‘n’ book it before it blows in, we’re gonna be stuck up here for a couple of days.”

“And we can’t leave right now ‘cause we don’t know what’s what with him.” Arthur finished what he knew Kieran was thinking with a heavy sigh. He got a sheepish nod in return. “Well it’s a good thing you made sure we overpacked on food, then.”

The rest of the day was spent drifting in and out of sleep - keeping the fire fed, taking the horses out to stretch their legs, salvaging the deer they’d left out for David. They found he’d gone for the organs, leaving almost the entirety of the meat on the body, which was useful. After a lunch of venison, they curled up once again before the hearth. Arthur found himself looking over at David’s discontented face as he fell back into the clutches of rest.


	4. They got quarters and I had a half.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David wakes up.

A few hours after sunset, Kieran was out settling the horses and Arthur was stoking the fire. He heard a sharp breath to his side, and glanced over to see David’s eyes wide open and staring at him in fright. Arthur blinked, admiring for a moment how easily he could see the yellow tint to the other’s scleras. Looking closer, he noticed that David’s pupils were slits - narrow and hostile. Like a cat, which he found slightly amusing, considering their friend’s canine state.

After a few seconds, Arthur realised he’d been staring blankly, and coughed into his hand. “Evenin’.” He shuffled a little closer, making note of the low growl reverberating through David, the way his upper lip slowly drew back to show off his fangs. “You remember what happened?”

There was no reply, just a continued surliness and snapping of teeth.

“Hey, c’mon now. I ain’t gonna hurtcha. You remember who I am?”

Lip sliding back down over his teeth, David regarded him hesitantly and nodded. “A-Arthur.”

“Yeah, that’s right. And you’re David, right?”

Another nod. David’s hackles lowered, the growl ceasing. He sunk back into the bed.

“You… shot me, right?”

An embarrassed flush coloured Arthur’s cheeks, but he nodded reluctantly and moved to the chair by David’s bed. “Yeah, uh, yeah we did. Real sorry about that, we- uh, we got told there was a big wolf ready for huntin’, we didn’t know that, uh-”

“S’all right.” David cut him off. A gentle smile twisted the corners of his mouth, his pupils growing wider. “I know you didn’t know. I’m lucky you were the first, honestly.”

“That right?”

Whatever David was going to say was drowned out by the roaring of the wind as the door behind them burst open. It closed just as quickly, Kieran huffing and puffing as he bolted it and blew into his hands.

“They doin’ alright?” Arthur called to him, turning from David.

Kieran hurried over, rubbing his hands together. “They ain’t starving, but they’re gonna need a lot of TLC when we get back. They’re pissed we brought them up in the cold, heh. But we still got enough food to last until…”

He trailed off as he saw David gazing up at him, studying him with an open face.

“Oh, h-he’s- he’s awake, then?”

“Yeah,” Arthur turned back around to look down at their guest, “Woke up just now, actually.”

“Hiya.” the wolfman offered with a wary smile.

“Um, howdy!” Kieran returned.

They fell into an awkward silence after that. David buried into his sheets, teeth chattering a little.

“I’ll get the fire goin’ again,” Arthur didn’t so much offer as told them, as he stood and chucked some more wood on the flames. He built it high and roasting, and together they shifted David’s bed closer.

Kieran and Arthur took their usual seat in front of the fireplace, piling some cans into the hearth to cook. “You must be hungry, huh? You been asleep the whole day.” Arthur turned to David.

“I’m still pretty stuffed from that deer, honestly. But it wouldn’t hurt.”

Seeing Kieran’s expression out of the corner of his eye, Arthur found they both had the same line of questioning on their lips. He nodded at Kieran, discreetly. Kieran’s knuckles cracked.

“What… are you? If- if you don’t mind me askin’, only.” The words tumbled clumsily from Kieran’s mouth, and Arthur saw David’s fuzzy ears prick up. The stranger turned over onto his side as to easily talk to them, with a weary looking smile on his face.

“It’s fine, you were gonna ask eventually, I know.” An ear twitched where a strand of David’s hair irritated it; Arthur had a sudden and obtrusive urge to brush it away from his face. “I think I’m a werewolf, that’s- that’s the best word for it, I guess. The traditional story, at least where I’m from - I got bit by a strange-looking wolf, and then I grew fur and started having blackouts during full moons.”

The flames crackled. Kieran’s hand slipped into Arthur’s. “That was a year ago, and after I realised what was happening I- I moved myself into a cabin up here so I wouldn’t be around people when it happened. I didn’t- I don’t want to hurt anyone. That’s why I’m up here.”

Nodding, Arthur watched the anxious expression on their friend’s face. “And we were in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

A hoarse little chuckle, “Well, in your case, the right place at the right time. You came up here hunting, right?”

“We weren’t plannin’ on huntin’ half-human.” Kieran’s voice walked the line between humour and sincerity. David nodded in reassurance.

A look of sudden recognition appeared on Arthur’s face, “Ah, we ain’t told you - snowstorm’s just blown in while you were out. We’re gonna be stuck up here for a couple’a days at the least.”

“O-oh,” their guest blinked, his expression then easing itself into a more lighthearted one, “Well, that’s not so bad. Could be stuck with worse folks, huh? Not like I could really take care of myself that well anyway…”

Uneasy chuckling spread between the trio.

Judging the food as just about done, Arthur asked Kieran to take it out as he moved to help David sit upright. He laughed, trying to brush Arthur off - “It’s just my leg, mister, I can handle myself.” - yet allowed him to ease him up and let his hand hover for a moment too long. David didn’t seem to notice Arthur snatching his hand away like he’d been burned.

They ate and fell into surprisingly easy conversation. They learnt more about David - he was, indeed, English, and emigrated some years ago. He came to America to get away from his family (he didn’t specify why and seemed defensive when asked), and moved from ranch to ranch until the wolf bite. And he was a little younger than Kieran - a year or two.

Sharing their own stories in return, Arthur and Kieran leaned back against each other. They should have been being more careful, they didn’t really _know_ David after all. However they had come up here to have some time alone, and were both reluctant to hide their affections like they usually did. David didn’t seem to pick up on it - and if he did, he didn’t let it show.

When the moon reached its peak, they decided it was about time to try to amend their sleep schedule. They helped David back under his sheets, wished him a good rest and made sure the fire was blazing. Then it was back onto their rolls and each other’s arms.


	5. And that orange, it made me so happy,

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some revelations are had.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok i lied THIS is my favourite chapter HDJSKFHKJS... feat gay people and david happy flapping

The next morning, they talked for a while longer and ate breakfast, before Arthur decided to go out hunting in the storm for something more appetising. Skeptical, Kieran badgered him to be careful and come back as soon as possible. They didn’t kiss, not while David was there, which seized Kieran’s heart but he let it pass. At least he had Arthur’s hand on his shoulder, squeezing in comfort, and the soft and reassuring look in his eye before he closed the schoolhouse door behind him.

Worrying his lip between his teeth as he often did, Kieran paced for a moment or two, unsure of what to do with himself. They were stuck up here until the storm passed after all, so there was nothing much to do. Glancing over like he had just remembered the man existed, Kieran’s eyes settled on David, who was now sat up with his head tilted ever so slightly. It looked familiar - the same look the wolf had given Arthur before Kieran shot him. Guilt settled into his bones.

Slowly, like David would pounce on him at any sudden movements, Kieran wandered over and settled down in the chair next to the camp-bed. He felt stiff, hyper-aware of his gangly stance, feeling too big in the seat. David was looking at him curiously, but there was a guarded look about him. Kieran swallowed.

“Can.. can I ask you something? Since you got to ask me about the werewolf thing.” His ears were twitching again, pricking up and then laying flat, like he was hesitant. It was rather charming, if absurd.

Fingers balling in the fabric of his coat, the stableboy nodded. “Sure, mister.”

Cogs whirred behind David’s contracting pupils; Kieran noticed little freckles across his nose. He was considering, toying with the sheets over his legs as he thought over whatever was in his head. Anxiety built inside Kieran as he waited - partly because the silence was giving him an opportunity to admire the man’s features, and he was feeling a solid blush beginning to coat his face.

“You and Arthur…” David began, soft, nervous. Kieran could taste the question in the air before it even left the other’s mouth. “Are you- um…” Now David was blushing as well, but looking fearful. Kieran let him continue, just on the chance that perhaps he wasn’t saying what Kieran thought he was saying - no sense in outing them without reason.

“You- you two… Are you-” Unable to find the words, David simply made a sort of gesture with his hands. A shaking, a clasping together, a terrified promise given to Kieran under the pretense that maybe he was wrong, maybe they’d throw him out in the snow for suggesting it.

Immediately, Kieran nodded. His hands jumped to David’s, holding tight, and they looked at each other. Shared a secret little agreement between them, a quiet understanding. There was excitement in David’s blown pupils.

“You’re… Wow, I’ve only ever met a couple others. How long have you two…?”

Sitting back, Kieran smiled, indulging his questions. “A few months now. The folks we go ‘round with don’t seem to mind, but we ain’t loud about it either.” 

His companion nodded, a dumb little smile on his face.

“Actually, that’s… kinda the whole reason Arthur brought us up here. Wanted some alone time, ‘cause it ain’t like anyone’d find us up in the middle’a nowhere.”

A blush coloured David’s cheeks once again. “Ah, I guess I… kinda messed that one up a little, didn’t I? I-I’m sorry there.”

“It’s alright,” Kieran chuckled, “I’m glad we met you anyway, myself.”

The ears once again rose. “Oh, r-really?”

 _Cute. He looks cute._ Kieran quashed the thought. “Yeah, really. You’re nice, and I-I think you needed someone to talk to. It must be lonely up here, huh?”

“Y-yeah. It is.”

Silence fell between them again for a moment. Something thick hung in the air, redness in both their cheeks.

“You’re also…?” Kieran started.

Brief hesitation, then David blinked and jerkily nodded. “Yeah. Never… found someone though. Not like you two.”

Kieran smiled again. “I hope- I-I hope you do.” Then his smile faded for a moment. “‘s that why you came here? Emigrated?”

“One of the reasons, yeah. Although I guess I just thought America would be a new start.”

“My parents thought that too.”

David smiled softly at him.

Until Arthur got back, they swapped stories and quiet promises. Something crackled around them, which Kieran avoided solemnly. He told David the wolf legends of Ireland, and David confessed half his family came from Ireland too. At some point, Kieran brought a small bottle of gin out and they drank together.

Arthur returned with another deer, skinned it outside and brought the spoils in to deposit in the fire. They moved David down to the floor to sit with them upon his request, and shared the gin with Arthur as well. Kieran, in hushed tones, shared also their revelation and watched with satisfaction the way Arthur’s eyebrows shot up and the gin went sideways down his gullet. David stifled a laugh.

“Well, we’re all a bunch o’ sodomites, ain’t we?” Arthur chuckled. He ignored the way his heart pounded faster, singing with hope. Catching Kieran’s eye, shock passed through him as he saw his exact expression mirrored on his lover’s face. A silent understanding passed through them; they’d have to discuss it more later.

That night, they drank and feasted on venison and mint while the snowstorm battered at the schoolhouse walls. They found David to be quite an excitable and bashful drunk, a blush always in his face and a laugh ripping out of him at the littlest thing. His merriment was contagious, and Kieran found himself mimicking the way David flapped his arms about in pure joy. At one point, they even stood and began dancing - albeit messy, raucous dancing with much tripping and broken voices. Arthur stayed seated next to the fire, bellowing a campfire song into the heavy air.

Soon the singing died down, the trio falling over each other in front of the fire. Kieran found himself mesmerised by the lump rapidly moving inside David’s trouser leg - trying to sway but strangled by the fabric. “Mister, wha’s that?”

Twisting around to look at him, a perplexed look crossed David’s face - “What? What’re you meaning?”

“It’s his tail, darlin’! S’all trapped-” Arthur blurted through wheezing laughter, before crawling over and unsheathing his knife. “Here, here, hold still, I’ll help.”

“Hey, hey, keep that knife away from my ass!” David protested, wiggling about as Arthur hauled him down to the floor and drunkenly instructed Kieran to keep him pinned and settled.

As careful as he could be with a system full of gin and snake oil, Arthur dug the tip of his blade into the fabric over David’s tailbone, tearing open a sloppy little hole. Their friend still squirming beneath him, Arthur eased the man’s tail through the hole and gave a satisfied hum at the way it beat back and forth freely.

“Sorry ‘bout that… But I bet it feels better now, huh?” Arthur slurred, grinning at David’s silly little tipsy pout when he helped him back upright.

With a stubborn tilt, David nodded jauntily and soon broke out into giggles again. Kieran, sitting behind him, watched intently the way his scraggly tail flipped side to side and reached out to run his crooked fingers through the fur. Alarm flashed over David’s face for a moment, before he leaned back against Kieran, continuing to giggle and whine in his throat. The wind outside was screaming against the sodden wood of the cabin.

Eventually, they fell into various sleepy dazes, and after getting David settled once again, Arthur and Kieran collapsed on top of one another and were out within minutes.

What was most likely many hours later, Arthur was woken rather rudely. He couldn’t immediately tell what had woken him - Kieran was laying across from him, still sound asleep. Thinking it might have been the wind, Arthur closed his eyes again and tried to find wherever his rest had gotten to.

Then he heard it again - sniffling in the dark.

Carefully, as to not wake Kieran, Arthur sat up and squinted towards David on the bed. The fire had died down to a couple of smouldering logs, leaving David a bunched up mass in the shadows. But Arthur could tell from where he was sat that the man’s shoulders were shaking - his entire body shivering, in fact. Dragging himself up to his feet and stepping over Kieran’s slumbering form, Arthur quietly toed his way over to their guest.

He knelt, reaching a hand out to gently nudge David’s shoulder. Immediately, he stiffened, the crying halting and superficial silence replacing it.

“You okay?” Arthur murmured to the body facing away from him, rigid as ice. Feeling just about as cold as well.

The silence dragged on for a few seconds longer, before a raw whisper, “I’m fine.”

“Forgive me, but you ain’t seem fine.”

The emptiness turned soft, upset, and Arthur felt under his hand the muffled sobs starting up again. “C’mon, what’sa matter? You’re okay, I won’t laugh if y’think it’s dumb.”

“Just…” A choke in David’s throat, wet. “Just a nightmare. That’s all.”

Arthur’s hand squeezed a little, trying his best to be comforting, “Hey, we all get nightmares, s’alright. You wanna talk about it?”

With a sigh, David turned over to face Arthur. “No, no, it’s- I’m fine. I have them s-sometimes.”

Nodding, Arthur took his hand away and cracked a knuckle. He heard Kieran stir behind him, a hazy mumble, “Wha’s goin’ on?”

“Nothin’, darlin’.” Arthur looked down at David, the man’s wet cheeks and shivering body. “You cold up here? Yer not as close to the fire as we are.”

“No, I’m f-”

“How ‘bout you come sleep down here with us for tonight, alright? Bet that’ll calm you down a little. C’mon now,” Already bringing David upright with him as he stood, Arthur ignored his bashful protests. “Don’t worry, I don’t mind and Kieran don’t neither. We don’t wantchu freezin’ to death.”

Kieran was halfway awake now, sitting up and watching blearily as Arthur eased David down next to him. Rebuilding the fire, Arthur made sure it was burning comfortably before collecting the linens from the camp-bed and throwing them over the two forms on the floor. Laying down once again on the other side of David, Arthur moved in, close but hesitant. After a few moments of embarrassment and fluster, David shuffled until his head was resting comfortably under Arthur’s chin. Kieran hugged tight to their friend’s back, giving Arthur a restless look before closing his eyes and dropping back off.

What was he getting himself into?


	6. As ordinary things often do

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David sees the horses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EXPOSITION TIME :]

They let David sleep soundly as each got up to tend to their morning duties - Kieran to the horses and Arthur with breakfast. Once again Arthur found himself watching David’s dozing form, the way his ears twitched in rest, the hair in his face, the sleepy glow about his cheeks. He managed almost to burn breakfast, that lost in thought.

Once Kieran shouldered back inside, Arthur gently woke their comrade and sleepily - and with pounding headaches, if the way his two friends were wincing was any indicator - they tucked into breakfast.

“Storm seems lighter’n yesterday,” Kieran mentioned through a mouthful of beans, “Probably be out of here in a day or two.”

“Good.” was David’s reply, almost too quickly, and he blushed deeply, “N-not that I don’t appreciate what you two have done for me, I just want to be out of your hair-”

Patting him gently on the shoulder, Arthur finished up the last of his meal. “Relax, we didn’t take it like that.”

He had a question on his tongue, but swallowed it down. _Where are you actually staying, is it safe? Are you lonely?_ It was frankly none of his business.

After breakfast, Kieran quickly stood (with an audible hissing through his teeth at the pain in his head) and rushed back towards the door. “Here, hold on, I found somethin’.”

“Oh yeah?” Arthur was helping David back up to sit on the camp bed, but now turned to look.

Kieran was presenting a long branch, that conveniently parted into a Y shape at the top. “A crutch?” David tilted his head, reaching out hesitantly for it.

Passing it over, Kieran watched waveringly as David hauled himself up to his feet, resting heavily on it. It wasn’t perfect - it was slightly too long, meaning he had to lean up to get the fork under his arm - but he tried a couple of hobbling steps with it and found it worked pretty well.

On and off for the rest of the morning, David wandered in circles, trying to get used to the crutch and to walking on his shot leg. There were a lot of stumbles, a few falls, and one moment that Arthur had been mulling over in the back of his mind for the past hour.

David had been on his circuit for a while, treading slow and careful. More intently than he’d care to admit, Arthur had been watching him, ready to dive forward if he stepped offkilter.

That very thing happened, and Arthur lunged forward in time to hook an arm under David’s shoulders and keep him from hitting the ground. This, however, left them in quite an awkward position for a number of seconds - with Arthur hoisting the wolfman in an almost ballroom-style dip, the two holding each other’s startled gazes with flushed cheeks.

They were both brought out of the daze by Kieran’s snorting - he was sat on the camp bed, snickering unattractively into his hand. Quickly afterwards, Arthur brought David upright, murmured some kind of formality, coughed into his hand and headed out to “check on the horses”. David was left frazzled, slumped on his crutch, red-faced and bewildered. Kieran looked at him rather knowingly.

The rest of the day was uneventful, but filled with a thick tension that pressed around the trio tightly. Arthur never seemed to recover from the slip up that morning, being lost in his thoughts and resorting to his journal for a while. Sometime after lunch, David asked if he could go out to see the horses, but both Arthur and Kieran were skeptical about him going out in the snow in his condition. He argued his point relentlessly, until eventually Arthur bundled him into his coat and allowed Kieran to help him to the stables.

The slitted pupils in David’s eyes went wide on seeing the horses, his tail wagging instantly. He cooed over them, rubbing his oddly padded hands over their soft necks and noses. “What’re they called?”

“The white one’s Branwen, he’s mine, and the grey dapple is Duffy.”

“Branwen and Duffy…” David mumbled as he ran his fingers through Branwen’s slightly dishevelled mane.

Watching the light in David’s eyes with a soft feeling in his chest, Kieran nodded, “Funny story, actually. Duffy’s named after me - Kieran Duffy. Arthur thought’d be cute, says he looks like me.”

“Really? Well, he sort of does.” David gave a little laugh, hoarse and not all that attractive but it lit up Kieran’s face. “Grey coat and everything.”

As he fed Duffy an oatcake, Kieran asked, “D’you have a horse waitin’ for you?”

“Yeah. Back at my cabin.”

Raising his eyebrows in quiet surprise, Kieran crossed over the front of Duffy to stand at the other side of Branwen. “You think it’s doin’ alright? Y’been gone a couple days now.”

A little chuckle left David, the edges of his eyes creasing, “Oh, yeah, she’ll be fine. She was wild before I broke her in, she’s used to living on her own up here. Knowing her, she will’ve chewed through her bridle and took off halfway across the Grizzlies by now.”

“That’s a relief, at least,” Kieran chuckled back, “What breed is she?”

“Ah, I’ve never been good at telling them apart, so I couldn’t tell you. She’s white, and fast, and she’s got a feisty attitude but she’s a softie, really. Name’s Darling.” Readjusting on his crutch, David’s face took on a distant, fond look as he stroked over the dip of Branwen’s back.

The expression mirrored itself onto Kieran’s face. He was reminded of when he first met Branwen. His first job after being “recruited” by the O’Driscolls was to prove himself by bringing a sickly, beaten horse back from the edge of death. The horse was his lifeline; if he didn’t successfully save it, he would be pronounced incompetent and shot (or something worse, most likely). In a similar way, he was Branwen’s only chance, as well. Even after he nursed the horse back to a physically healthy state, he continued to work with him, in between the brushing, the hoof-picking, the shoe-ing and the mucking. Branwen became Kieran’s project, his one joy, as he suffered the berating and torment of his new gang. At the end of every day, Kieran knew he could return to the stable, to that horse that just like him had been neglected and abused, and help him learn to trust again. The day when Branwen had finally nosed Kieran’s hand and _kept it there_ , antsy but unbiting, Kieran damn near shrieked with joy.

He stroked Branwen’s ears, gentle, listening to the calm and heavy breaths his horse took.

“You said you’ve been a stableboy your whole life? That must be nice.”

Startled, Kieran realised he’d been silent for a while, reminiscing, “O-only if you don’t mind smellin’ of horse and everything that comes _with_ horse. But yeah, it’s tough work, but I-I like workin’ with ‘em. Like knowin’ everythin’ there is to know about ‘em. Love their personalities too.”

“Bit temperamental, aren’t they?”

“Yeah,” Kieran gave the other oatcake to Branwen, halting his nickering, “Branwen and Duffy, they’re both kinda soft, but Branwen’s got a stubborn side. Easy to frighten, though. There’s a guy back at camp, Bill, got a _big_ workhorse, and the thing’s just’s mean as he is. Pretty, b-but mean as they come. Bit me once when I tried pickin’ its hooves.”

Stroking Branwen’s flank, David laughed, “I don’t think Darling’s mean, but I’ve got bit a fair amount.”

“Yeah, Branwen don’t bite anymore, but I wouldn’t put it past him.”

Suddenly David seemed much more apprehensive about his fingers scratching over Branwen’s jaw.

The two stayed in heavy silence for a while as David pet the horses and Kieran checked over their food again. Eventually, the wolf broke the quiet.

“Earlier, with Arthur, I’m not- I wouldn’t try that, I’m not trying to get in between you too, honest, I didn’t-”

“N-no, no! It’s okay, I didn’t think that. I trust you.” Kieran stepped closer, hands outstretched, perhaps out of the instinct to calm a spooked horse. “Arthur’s just a carin’ man - last night as well, he just wants you to recover alright. I trust him, an’ I trust you.”

Relief seeped out of David’s expression, his ears falling with the release of tension. “Oh thank God, I thought I was a homewrecker or something.”

Kieran ignored the tiny pang he felt in his chest, pushing it aside. He uneasily chuckled, “No, no, don’t worry.”

The pair stood then, close, Kieran realising his hand was clutching David’s shoulder comfortingly. They blinked at each other, something buzzing in the air.

“Sh-should we head back inside, then?” Kieran withdrew his hand, tucking his fingers in and amongst Branwen’s mane.

“Let’s. I’m freezing.”

That night, David was much quieter and seemingly distant than he’d been the previous. He ate in more or less silence, having delayed responses to any questions and gazing forwards absently. Hot worry writhed in Arthur’s gut - about earlier, mostly.

Eventually he got the conviction to ask where David lived, and received an airy “Cabin nearby, Dormin Crest.”

“Alone?”

“Yeah. Hunt things around for food. It’s quiet, but it’s okay.” Embers danced in the yellow reflections of David’s eyes.

Past that, the conversation didn’t turn out much of worth. They packed away their meal, and David began attempting to hustle his linens back to the camp bed.

“Hey, ‘s’alright. Y’can sleep down here again with us, it’s probably freezin’ up there, huh?” Arthur rushed out as he halted David’s struggles and lowered the sheets back to the floor.

A deep redness was already inching its way across the other’s face, as he hurriedly snatched the bedding back up, “No, no, it’s- I don’t want to get in your way, it’s fine, I can sleep up here. I’ll manage.”

“You ain’t gettin’ in the way.” Arthur pointedly said as he firmly took the linens back, “It’d be more trouble anyway if y’got sick from the cold.”

“He’s got a point, David,” Kieran finally spoke up, “I-I don’t mind neither.”

A look of confliction fluttered about on their friend’s face, his ears folding flat again in stress. “I…”

“Now c’mon, what’sa matter. What’s changed since last night?” Arthur’s tone went softer.

Kieran watched David carefully, the way his hands were beginning to flit up and down, grasping at his shirt and his hair. “Is this… Is this about whatchu mentioned in the barn?”

Going instantly mortified, David stuttered out something barely legible at the two men. His head was twitching, the words struggling to get past his teeth.

“What did he mention? Is somethin’ wrong?” Despite his twittering protests, Arthur eased David down to sit on the camp-bed again, wavering on Kieran’s words. David was making grunting noises, grinding his teeth and pulling his hair. “Hey, hey, c’mon, don’t hurt yerself,” Arthur’s big hands came up to tug his arms away, “Pull somethin’ else - my collar okay? Go on, ‘s fine.”

While David wordlessly kneaded Arthur’s coat collar, Kieran looked on in bewilderment and hesitance on whether he should continue. “David, can I tell him?”

After a couple of moments, a jerky nod was given.

“He’s feelin’ like he’s gettin’ inbetween us - I told him he ain’t, but I guess he’s still worried.”

“Gettin’ inbetween us like…” Arthur knew full well what Kieran meant, but looked back over to find it confirmed in David’s restless, blushing face. He felt sick at how excited he felt, but he couldn’t come out and say it, he had to talk with Kieran first. And he didn’t think David was in any state to be left on his own right now. “Ah.”

The humming in the back of David’s throat got louder, more choked.

“You don’t gotta worry, alright. Kieran ‘n’ me are still just the same we was when we came up here, you ain’t breakin’ us apart or somethin’. We’re askin’ you of our own free choice to sleep down here with us, so you don’t freeze. Alright boy? Now c’mon, let’s settle down.”

With some more gentle coaxing, they eventually had a sleepy ball of David huddled tight inbetween them, falling quickly into a doze. They carried out their usual nightly routine, exhaustion beginning to peak.

Across the top of their friend’s head, Arthur met eyes with Kieran. The stableboy gave him a meaningful look, then whispered, “We’ll talk in the mornin’, alright Morgan?”

Arthur nodded a little, touched his hand to the other’s cheek, and was out like a light. He remembered waking again, later on, to more of David’s muffled crying. Taking him into his arms despite the wolf’s protests, Arthur murmured sleepy, comforting words, his voice rumbling through his chest and his throat. Kieran, after a moment, stirred as well and shifted closer, pressed to David’s back and looping an arm around his middle. He whispered similar reassurances, and David’s whimpers subsided and quiet snores took their place.


	7. Just lately. The shopping. A walk in the park.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur and Kieran finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kierthur moments  
> also tw they do Mention r/pe in this chapter for two lines while talking about stuff other gangs do but it doesnt go in detail at all.

Kieran was right about the storm. The next day, the snow was definitely easing off - not enough to travel back that day, but it meant they could leave soon.

When Arthur awoke, he found Kieran already stoking the fire and readying himself to go out to the stables. He tried to sit up to head after him, but quickly found that his legs were tangled with something and there was another body weighing him down. Carefully, gently, Arthur eased his legs out from their knot with David’s and edged the other off of him, making sure to bunch the sheets tightly around the wolfman to keep him warm without Arthur and Kieran’s body heat.

Once he was sure David wouldn’t wake easy, Arthur stood and nodded to Kieran, who opened the door and wandered out. Arthur followed, crunching through the thinning snow to the stable doors and slightly worrying over David being left alone.

They entered together, in tense silence, Kieran instantly heading to Branwen with a brush. Arthur leaned against the pole he belatedly remembered was Kieran’s place of captivity. He not-so-subtly slipped away from it and moved instead to feed Duffy.

“You like him?”

Over Duffy’s back, Arthur met Kieran’s eyes. Kieran didn’t look sad, he held Arthur’s gaze with simple curiosity and a dash of hope.

“Yeah,” Arthur said, finally, “I-I do.”

“Like- like _like_ like him-” Arthur let out a barkish laugh at such a childish expression coming from Kieran, but then again, this was the man who still called his parents “Mammy and Pappy”.

“Yes, you fool, I _like_ like him.”

“G-good.” Hiding his expression with Branwen’s mane, Kieran nodded, “‘Cause I do too.”

They both let it stay between them for a moment, the confession finally weaving through the air.

Eventually, Arthur murmured, “What’re we gonna do about it then?”

“I’m… not sure. I-I don’t think we can just… leave him here or wherever he’s stayin’ when we go. He can’t take care of himself right now-”

“I’m with you. But, puttin’ the other thing aside, we can’t just bring him to camp. He don’t even know we’re outlaws, Kieran. We’d be puttin’ him in danger. Hell, if he found out, he might not even want anythin’ else to do with us. That ain’t even takin’ into consideration his… wolf predicament.”

A certain ruddiness showed in Kieran’s cheeks, not from the cold but from passion, “Well we’d be puttin’ him in danger if we left him too! We gotta take him to camp, or- or get someplace warmer and help him ‘til he’s better.”

“How long would that take? I- We can’t be away from camp much longer. We’re already pushin’ it with the snowstorm, if we don’t get back soon then Dutch’ll have both our necks.” Quieter, “And he ain’t exactly fond of you.”

“I-I-” For a moment, Kieran tried to look offended, or angry, but it fizzled. “I know. Fuck, yeah, I know. We… we don’t got a choice, Arthur. It’s camp, or he’s on his own.”

Arthur groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose and fighting off his growing headache. “Alright, we tell him. We tell him we’re outlaws, and if he wants to come, he’ll come. We can’t make him.”

Grimly, Kieran nodded.

Arthur nodded back, “The other thing, then.”

“Is that… even allowed?” Kieran spoke in hesitance. Three people together - three _men_ , for that matter - was pretty much unheard of in all the time he’d been living.

Another laugh, half-hearted, from Arthur, “Darlin’, when has anythin’ we’ve ever done been allowed? We’re already gonna be hanged for bein’ outlaws, and our crimes against God on top’a that. As long as everyone wants it, then it’s fine, don’tchu think?”

Kieran considered, running his hand over Branwen’s twitching flank. “We don’t even know if he does.”

“Ah, yeah, there’s that.” A sigh came from Arthur, which Duffy snorted at. “I got an inklin’, but yer right.”

“Here, put it like this. We both agree right now, we want this, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“If somethin’ happens, we know now we’re both okay with it. It’s his choice whether somethin’ _does_ happen. We don’t do anythin’, we let him come to terms with his own feelin’s, alright?”

“You sure he even would? I ain’t talkin’ lowly of him, but, we seen he holds things back.”

Putting the brush away, Kieran circled around to face Arthur, with no barriers. “I-I think we’re gettin’ ahead of ourselves. We still gotta tell him about our business, yeah? We don’t even know if he’s gonna wanna stick around ‘til tomorrow. Let’s take it one step at a time.”

Arthur’s arms slipped around Kieran’s waist, and he leaned forward to catch the other’s lips in a soft, slow kiss. “Alright.” he murmured. “I love you, darlin’.”

“I love you too, y’big brute.”

They moved around the stables from then on in their familiar, intimate way - brushing against each other, a stray kiss, Arthur softly humming. Kieran finished teasing out Duffy’s mane as Arthur left gentle kisses on the back of his neck, then the two deemed their tasks done and trudged back through the snow to the schoolhouse.

They entered one after the other, Arthur bolting the door back tight. He turned to find David sitting upright, bundled up in so many layers of sheet that only his head was visible, just sticking out from the cocoon. “Morning.”

“Mornin’. You alright when you woke up?” Kieran went straight to stoking the fire as he spoke, taking his spot next to their friend.

A weak laugh left David, “Gave me a scare, actually. I realised you must have just been in the barn, or hunting, but waking up alone shook me up a bit.”

Sitting down on the camp bed, Arthur chuckled back, “Sorry, we thought we’d have some quiet time while you were still sleepin’.”

Arthur didn’t miss the disappointed look that crossed David’s face for a moment, or the way his ears drooped.

“Not that Arthur meant-”

“No, no, really it’s fine. I didn’t take it like that,” He said, smiling, but both of them could tell there was something else he wanted to say. Arthur nodded.

“Kieran, why don’tchu put breakfast on.” Nodding, Kieran busied himself, and Arthur swallowed. “David, there’s, uh… We gotta talk.”

The way that David’s ears pricked up sent a jolt of fluster through Arthur that he beat back. “Oh, yeah?” There was a little waver in his voice, Arthur could hear.

“Yeah. We were talkin’ out in the barn. We’re set on leavin’ tomorrow, hopefully, but you ain’t in any state to be left on yer own. We can’t just… leave you where you’re stayin’, to fend for yerself, in good faith.”

A slight twinge of irritation appeared in David’s features, “With all due respect, Arthur, I’ve been ‘ _fendin’ fer myself_ ’,” he imitated Arthur’s gruff American drawl, “for the better part of a year. Longer if we aren’t just talking about up here.”

“I know, boy, and I ain’t sayin’ you ain’t good at it. But you weren’t doin’ that with a shot leg. Yer barely steady on that crutch yet - yer leg needs rest to recover and y’ain’t gonna be restin’ if yer still huntin’ for food out in the cold.”

After a moment, David nodded, defeated.

“So we decided it’d be better if you… came back to our camp with us. ‘Cause we already spent too long up here wi’ the storm, and if we stay longer then it ain’t gonna be pleasant - so we gotta go, and we want you t’ come with us.”

“It don’t gotta be permanent,” Kieran quickly interjected, “Just ‘til yer up and walkin’ well enough again. Unless… you’d wanna stay.”

David looked between them, from where Kieran was kneeling at the fire to where Arthur sat on the bed. He blinked, overwhelmed, “I-I, it’s a generous offer, but-”

“Hold on, hold on.” Cutting him off, Arthur took a careful breath. “There’s somethin’ we gotta tell you, ‘fore you say anythin’. ‘N’ we hope it don’t change nothin’ but, it prob’ly will.”

There was silence, then, with David tilting his head in expectation and Arthur looking to Kieran for help. Kieran stood, an uneasy look on his face.

“We’re outlaws. Bad men. You’d be in danger at our camp, from th’ government and- a-and other gangs, too.”

No immediate alarm showed on David’s face, but his ears pinned back and his claws clenched into the bedding around him. “What… _kind_ of bad men?”

“Whatchu mean?” Arthur asked, Kieran sending him a skeptical look.

“I _mean_ , raping and killing and robbing?”

“Killing and robbing. Not the first. _Never_ the first.” Seemingly slightly offended, Arthur trailed off. “Van der Lindes, ever heard of it?”

Shakily, David nodded. “Whispers, yeah. In saloons, on wanted posters.”

“That’s us, yeah.”

Then, a quiet, “You’re Arthur Morgan, aren’t you?”

“...Yeah, I am.”

The three fell into tense silence, the wind outside seeping through the cracks. Sensing something needed to be said, Kieran took centre stage again, “Look, David, they ain’t as bad as people say. Not at all.”

Their companion raised his gaze, looking shaken and skeptical. Arthur knew it would happen, but he still felt deep dread at the unfamiliarity in David’s eyes, like he was seeing them as strangers again.

“I was part of another gang, one like whatchu said before. Worse. Stable hand, forced in at gunpoint.” He swallowed, “The Van der Lindes, they took me prisoner - s-sounds bad, I know, that’s not the point - but after that they didn’t kill me or send me off on my own knowin’ I’d die. Th-that my old gang’d find me and kill me for sellin’ them out. They let me stay, took me in, even knowin’ I was an enemy and I could run off and bring my old gang to them. They let me stay, and…” Moving closer, he took Arthur’s hand, “I found out they’re a lot softer than they like to make out.”

“Now yer callin’ us sappy, ya shit-” Arthur wheedled, without fire, running his thumb over Kieran’s knuckles.

“‘Cause you are, Morgan.” Kieran returned. “Point is, the Van der Lindes ain’t like other outlaws. They ain’t only in it for the money or- or the fame - they’re a group of misfits that don’t belong anywhere else. The bottom of the barrel, in civilised society’s terms. Just- just like you, huh?”

A pause, then David let out a quiet note of curiosity. “You said before, the people you go around with don’t care about you two?” Arthur and Kieran could see, both of them, grains of tantalising intrigue slipping out from David’s best attempt at a stoic expression.

Arthur nodded, “A few of ‘em do, ‘course, but they wouldn’t say nothin’. Risk gettin’ a black eye, I reckon, or a bullet in the foot.”

“So we’re just sayin’, come with us. Don’t have to be forever, it’s a hell of a life to get used to- but you’d be welcome there, long as you need.”

“Christ, you’re like regular old Robin Hoods, aren’t you.” He smiled hesitantly at the floor. “Alright. I’ll come, but… You’re sure they’ll be okay with- with all this?” His ears lifted and twitched on cue, his eyes narrowing to slits.

“If anyone’s got a problem, they won’t have one after ‘m through with ‘em.” Arthur said jokingly - but there was soft sincerity in his grin.

“Alright. I-I trust you both. I’ll… I’ll come with you.”


	8. This is peace and contentment. It’s new.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Passing time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and the angst begins..

The feeling of the room stayed uneasy, but tender, for the rest of the day as the three ate and waited out the storm. The air had become awkward and fresh, far from the raucous nature of the night they drank and danced. But it felt a lot more intimate than then, with secrets laid bare and David watching the two carefully, puzzling out whether they were still truly the kind men who took him in.

Several times the tension felt stifling. Arthur sat in early afternoon, writing in his journal, and sketching the cracks in the wall and David and Kieran against them when he ran out of things to write. It wasn’t impressive - by his standards - just an impressionless sketch with no particular telling features of the pair, but David caught sight of his frequent glances and tilted his head in that signature fashion.

He crawled over, quietly, “Can I look?”

For a moment or two, Arthur’s refusal caught in his throat, a blush surfacing on his cheeks. “Y-yeah. It ain’t that good though-”

“B-be quiet, Arthur Morgan,” Kieran interjected from across the room, from where he was leaning against the wall and fiddling with his hat. “He don’t give himself enough credit in anythin’. He’s got a gift.”

“Kieran-”

David cut Arthur off with a smile and a single padded hand, until Arthur flipped open his journal to hold between them. Regarding it in awe, David traced a claw around his pencil-laden face on the page. “Is there more? That you’d wanna show, only.”

Coughing into his hand, trying to hide his bewilderment, Arthur nodded, “Uh, yeah, yeah sure.”

He thumbed through the book, David catching snatches of neat cursive paragraphs - his own name several times. Arthur showed him flowers, wildlife, members of the Van der Lindes (including the famed Dutch himself). Eventually, they found themselves sat shoulder to shoulder, closer than they needed to be, as they scoured Arthur’s artistry together.

“Go back, closer to the middle. There’s one I thought looked nice - o-only if you don’t mind, of course.”

Nodding, Arthur turned back to the more recent pages, until David halted his skimming.

There was David’s face laid out on the page, from the first night they found him. The details of his skin, hair, teeth, the grey-black smudges of pencilled-in blood. Arthur flushed, trying to close the book, but David firmly stopped him with a hand between the pages. “This is beautiful. I-I’m not just saying that ‘cause it’s me, I mean- I’m not all that pleasant to look at, but you make me look like some sleeping maiden out of a fairy tale.”

“Y’think too lowly of yourself, darlin’.”

It wasn’t until David looked at him with wide eyes, pupils full and inky circles, that Arthur realised what he’d said. His jaw opened, no sound came out, he shut it again. David’s face was red, and there was a thumping from behind him that Arthur recognised as his tail against the wooden floor.

Almost simultaneously, they both began hurriedly apologising to each other, in fits of fluster, and scrambling away from their close position. Kieran watched with barely contained laughter, hiding his face in his hat.

For the rest of the day, David took to practicing on his crutch again, Arthur deciding it was an adequate time to go hunting again for something they could bring back, to justify their absence. Kieran offered to come with, but Arthur insisted he stay with David and headed out on his own.

This left Kieran and David alone together by the fire, David laying back on the floor and Kieran watching the logs crackle.

“He’s angry, isn’t he? God…”

Frowning, Kieran replied, “He ain’t mad. Arthur ain’t the best at… dealin’ with his feelings, y’know. He runs off a lot to let off steam, w-when he gets confused about stuff. He’ll be fine soon’s he’s cleared his head.”

“He called me darling. Does he… do that a lot?”

Kieran’s gaze trailed away from the flames to David’s face staring up at the ceiling. “I-I mean, around me, yeah. I doubt he goes around callin’ it to just anyone.”

Rolling onto his side - on his good leg - David took a deep breath and processed. “Why’d he call me it?”

Silence for a few moments, Kieran looking back at the fire again. “Well, why’d you think?”

“He doesn’t…”

Shrugging, Kieran laughed a little. “M-maybe it was just a slip of the tongue, hell, we don’t know.”

David whined. “Yeah. We don’t.”

Kieran sighed, and laid down next to David, facing him. “Y’can talk with him when he comes back, if you want. You don’t gotta, but if you wanna. If yer worried about gettin’ in-between us again, we told you, you ain’t!”

“I know, I know you said that. I feel out of place here - this was supposed to be your time alone and I ruined it.”

“You ain’t ruined anythin’! I’m glad we met you, and I know Arthur is too.” David didn’t look reassured. “Are you thinkin’ we’re only takin’ you with us outta pity?”

“N-no! That’s not… I-I appreciate it, I’m grateful, I-”

“It’s okay if yer feelin’ that way. I feel like folks do most things for me outta pity. B-but trust me, David, please, when I say that we talked through it a while and we know this’s the best choice. Not outta pity, alright, but ‘cause we care about you and- and w-we think it’d be awful lonely in a cabin out in the Grizzlies on yer own. ‘Sides, it’s our fault yer in this state anyway. Mine, really, I-I shot.”

“I told you, I forgive you-” David’s hand came to feel the space between them, wanting to touch Kieran but hovering in uncertainty.

“I know, and I told you, you ain’t gettin’ in the way.” Hesitantly, Kieran took David’s hand, and wordlessly shifted in closer, letting the other curl into him. It felt more personal in the daytime, not huddling together for warmth at night but holding each other tight on the floor of a shack in the broad and icy daylight.

“Thanks, Kieran.”

When Arthur returned, he brushed the snow on his gloves off onto the front of his coat and looked up to find Kieran and David sat by the fire, one behind the other. David lazed in front, waving his hand about in the heat of the flames, while Kieran sat with his legs parted around the other man. After a moment, Arthur could make out that Kieran was brushing through David’s unwashed hair.

“Evenin’, Arthur.” Kieran only glanced over for a second, “Sorry, I took the comb outta your satchel. Hope y’don’t mind?”

Bemused, Arthur strode closer, almost missing how David looked away with darkening cheeks. “Not at all - how’d you get this idea?”

David’s hair was long - down past his shoulders, though not quite at the length of Charles’ - and the comb was snagged on a particularly nasty matt. “It’s been a while since I’ve dealt with it,” David murmured, “Kieran offered. Hurts like anything.”

“Where’s your catch?” Saying this, Kieran managed to ease the teeth of the comb through the twist. David hissed, a growl in the back of his throat building. Arthur noticed how Kieran rubbed gently at the nape of David’s neck with his thumb, slow and firm, and David settled down again. His hair was almost completely untangled now, however still slick with grease.

Settling himself down on the camp bed, Arthur stretched until his shoulders popped. “In the barn. Colder in there - thought it’d keep it fresh fer longer without worryin’ about anythin’ stealin’ it. We can cut it up and cook it before we go.”

“Smart,” David finally looked over at Arthur, pulling his smooth hair over his shoulder and beginning to braid it, thanking Kieran. “You… want to talk about earlier?”

Leaning back, Arthur let out a long sigh and massaged the bridge of his nose. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry fer, uh, runnin’ off like that. ‘M sure Kieran told you, I’m not the best with feelin’s… Tend t’ avoid ‘em and just keep everything to my diary,” He gave a wheezing, humourless laugh.

“I get that, it’s alright.” David’s eyes followed Kieran as he got up and shifted to stoke the fire, letting them talk, “I’d just want to know, you know? If…” His gaze stayed pointedly away from Arthur, jaw tight. “It was just a slip-up, right?”

There was a look in David’s face, an aloofness in his eyes and in the way he finally shifted up to look at Arthur. It was almost pleading.

“Right?”

“Sure,” Arthur said with a stone in his throat, “It was a mistake.”

Behind David, Arthur saw Kieran’s head twitch, rock up, turn to him. His face showed his surprise, and his downtrodden expression.

That night David moved back up to the camp bed, shivering and whimpering in his sleep. Arthur lay on his back, awake throughout the night, forcing himself not to drag the man back down into his arms. Laying against him, Kieran appeared asleep, but Arthur knew he was similarly drifting in and out of dreams while David whined next to them. He sighed, deep and long.


	9. The rest of the day was quite easy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The snowstorm clears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOME TIME !!!! feat david trans moments

Their time in Colter had come to an end when they got up the next morning. All three of them had found little sleep, but nonetheless they gathered their belongings and re-packed the horses. They decided David would ride on Branwen behind Kieran, as Duffy was better suited to carrying the copious amounts of heavy bear meat and the dense coat. When they had first walked out to the stables that morning and found an entire dead bear sitting in what had used to be Pearson’s kitchen, waiting to be harvested and cooked quickly, Kieran had gone for Arthur’s throat - “An entire bear, on yer own? Morgan, a-are you fuckin’ insane?” - but it helped lift the mood slightly once he calmed down.

Their plan was to first ride to Dormin Crest - David’s cabin - to gather whatever supplies he wanted to take and to retrieve his horse. He wouldn’t ride her back due to his leg, but they’d tie her to one of the horses and take her with them. Then they’d travel back to Valentine, stay there for the night, and head back to Clemen’s Point in the morning.

“We got everythin’?” Kieran said, slotting David’s crutch into Branwen’s saddle. David himself was holding himself up on one of the stable’s beams, shivering in his thin shirt and workpants.

Finishing up with re-adjusting Duffy’s saddle straps, Arthur gave the horses a once over and nodded. “Yeah, just about.” As he spoke, his eyes caught on David, shaking with the cold, and he frowned. “Hey, d’you wanna wear my coat? I can do without it.”

Blinking in surprise, David began to shake his head, but a look from Kieran made him reconsider. “I- Alright. Until we get to my cabin. I’ve got a coat there.”

Arthur nodded, getting closer as he undid his coat and slid it off, leaving him in his shirt and tough leather vest. David turned to allow him to settle it on his shoulders, pulling it on and - after trying with his own trembling, useless hands - letting Arthur do it back up. The collar brushed against the fluff of his ears, and already he looked a lot better. Striding back to Duffy, Arthur pulled out his jacket and shrugged it on. It provided little comfort, but he was practically boiling alive with the blush on his face.

Shoving the stable doors open, Kieran stood by to let Arthur lead the horses out, and then went back inside to help David limp out after him. Arthur let Kieran mount Branwen first, then between them, they helped him up onto the back of the steed. Then, finally, Arthur climbed upon Duffy and they set off back home.

Now the snowstorm had finally ceased, there was a deep, fresh coat over everything that blew up around their horses’ hooves with the weak breeze as they rode. The sky was clear, blue, with the heightening dawn sun bright but giving no warmth. Casting a glance behind him, Arthur saw David looking around in wonder, a gentle smile on his face. He was leaning forward against Kieran, resting against his back, arms tucked around the man’s waist. He looked serene, and Arthur settled his gaze back on their path as he found himself smiling at the image of them all together.

A while later, they came up to a rickety little cabin with a hitching post outside - predictably, the rope had been entirely chewed through. Helping David down and inside, Arthur began taking anything David pointed out and stringing it onto the horses. It was a single room - a fireplace, a bed, cabinets, a table, not much else. The windows were shattered and boarded up, and it didn’t look all that homely despite how clearly David had tried to make it so.

On one of the walls, alongside various papers that looked like letters or perhaps pages of a diary, a single photograph was nailed. Arthur didn’t want to appear nosy, but he snuck a look at it and found it was a photo of a family, standing out in the countryside. A mother, a father, three boys at various points in teenagehood and a single girl in a pinafore with long brown hair and a soft grin. None of the boys looked anything like the man taking clothes off a drying wire beside him.

He must have stared too long, as David looked over and crept close, seeing what he was examining. While Arthur turned to look at the other, David simply stared at the picture with a somewhat wistful and nervous expression, and he said, “My mother looks nice in that photo, don’t you think?” while he traced a finger over the woman’s face. The girl in the pinafore was left ignored. Wordlessly, Arthur nodded, and David smiled softly, a distorted reflection of the photographed girl. He took the picture from the wall and walked back out to the horses.

Arthur watched him go, and looked back to the dust-less patch of the wall where the photo once was. He’d heard of people like David, and it didn’t bother him, so he simply took the other papers on the wall down and strode out to hand them over to their owner.

After stripping the place almost bare, David gave Arthur’s coat back and shooed him out so he could change from the old moth-eaten clothes from Colter. Arthur joined Kieran back at the horses, frowning. “Y’think he’s plannin’ on comin’ back up here after he’s healed? It ain’t… ideal.”

“I hope not.” Kieran replied, eyeing the large gaps between the door and the frame it sat in, letting in gusts of cold air.

Soon afterward, David appeared again in the doorway, now in a thick brown winter coat and black boots. The brim of a flat-cap almost covered his eyes as he limped back towards them.

“Where’s your horse?” Kieran asked, while Arthur retrieved his lasso.

Without warning, David gave a shrill whistle and a subsequent strange, howling noise. It didn’t sound like a traditional wolf’s call, moreso a peculiarly shaped yell. It worked, as after a few seconds a high whinny broke out in the trees and a pristine, white Arabian with a black saddle came barrelling through the snow towards them. She danced around, rearing and nickering until she came to a restless stop in front of David, who welcomed her, laughing and kissing her nose.

“Christ, h-how’d you manage to find _her?_ ” Kieran had a mesmerised look on his face, “That’s an Arabian, a white one, too - they come out at at least- at least a thousand dollars in any stable!”

David looked carefree as he stroked over Darling’s nose, “I told you, she’s wild. She hung out around Lake Isabella until I found her and broke her in. I let her loose while I’m working, usually.”

“She’s pretty, damn.” Arthur stepped a little closer, only for Darling to instantly back up and rear. “You oughtta put the rope on, she’d bite me.”

David did so with a bit of coaxing, and they secured her to Duffy, seen as David couldn’t steer her with his bad leg. As an afterthought, they moved some of their things to her bare saddle to even out the weight between the three steeds. Once again, they helped him up behind Kieran and began the journey down to Valentine.

They stopped often to give the horses a reprieve from the weight of their supplies, as well as the weight of two men on one horse and one man and a mammoth pile of bear meat on the other. These breaks were spent lazing in the sun, eating or napping - now out of their winter gear, which left David in some thicker brown jeans, a faded red overshirt and black suspenders. David looked around often in a trance, and Kieran realised it was probably his first time out of the mountains in a year. The stablehand would point out plants he knew, any good fishing spots they passed, and Arthur caught on after a while and similarly indicated points of interest he’d noted on his travels.

The sun sinking behind the mountains, they neared Valentine, and David tightened his hold around Kieran. “Have we got something I can hide myself with?”

This brought the two steering to a halt, both thinking for a moment.

“Here, y’can take my jacket, should be long enough to hide yer tail with.” Arthur had dismounted, crossing to Branwen to shrug his coat off and hand it up to the man.

Kieran twisted to talk to them, “We got a scarf or somethin’ for the face? Maybe yer bandana, Arthur?”

“Gotcha,” Arthur was already undoing his bandit’s neckerchief and even handing up his hat for good measure. With everything in place, David looked slightly suspicious, but hopefully no one would raise any concerns with two calm and unmasked men in front.

So with David covered up, tucking his head into Kieran’s shoulder until his face was entirely hidden by the brim of the hat, they trotted into Valentine towards the hotel. A few cast glances were all they got, mainly at the stock on their horses rather than to the concealed man on Branwen’s back. They hitched at the hotel, Arthur hopping off Duffy to head inside and book their room while Kieran and David waited outside. Better to get David up the stairs as quickly as possible than have him standing at the front desk attracting attention.

Arthur appeared at the door a minute later, gesturing them inside, and Kieran helped David off Branwen and hurried him up to the bedroom. They left David in the room to unwind while they carried some of their supplies up to ease the horses’ load, and once that was done Arthur told them he’d also booked two baths and the first should be ready.

“You can go first, I want to rest for a minute,” David insisted until his companions relented and agreed. Arthur went down first, followed by Kieran a few minutes later, as to not look suspicious - but Arthur had slipped the man behind the front desk an extra five dollars to be safe. While they bathed, David took the photograph from his pocket and thumbed over his brothers on the film. “You got wives, how’d you do it…”

Massaging his temple, he put it back and resigned himself to waiting out their return.


	10. I did all the jobs on my list.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything comes out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not me completely forgetting to update last night. heres a chapter a day late

A dozen minutes after they left, Kieran and Arthur re-appeared, clean and flustered. Passing them wordlessly, David pulled up his bandana again and headed down to the bath.

Arthur stretched, his muscles weary, and kicked his boots off before settling on the bed, back to the headboard. He began massaging deep into his thigh muscles, saddle-sore from riding all day, and sighed in relief. His eyes had slipped shut in concentration, but he opened them when he felt a dip at the end of the bed; he smiled slyly at Kieran, who had perched himself there. “C’mere, you.”

Similarly shoving off his boots, Kieran crawled to where Arthur was seated, laughing softly. Arthur let him settle in the space between his thighs, tilting his head up to peck tenderly at the stableboy’s lips. Chest to chest, the two exchanged affections for some time, until Kieran pulled away to snuggle up under Arthur’s chin. Taking to rubbing circles over his lover’s back, Arthur hummed, “So how’re feelin’, then?”

“I’m fine, darlin’, how’re you?” Kieran’s voice was heavy with sleep.

Snorting, Arthur replied, “I mean about Colter, y’fool. Did it turn out better this time ‘round?”

A pause, then Kieran shifted back until Arthur could see his face. His eyes were tired, but there was somewhat of a fresh glow about him. A renewed energy. “Y-yeah. It helped, actually, ‘specially findin’ our friend. Makin’ new mem’ries, corny ‘sit sounds… I ain’t headin’ back up there in a hurry, but I… I think it’ll help, y’know, with nightmares ‘n’ such.”

“I’m glad.” Arthur brought his other hand up to stroke over the back of Kieran’s head, feeling something warm swelling in his chest. “I love you, darlin’, feel like I don’t say it enough.”

Kieran laughed, sitting up to kiss Arthur once more. “You say it every time y’look at me. I can see it in yer eyes.”

They were about to return to their quiet passion, when a cough sounded from the door. They both jumped, pushing away from each other, Kieran wheeling around. A pampered David stood with his hand still on the newly-closed door’s knob, red-faced and looking anywhere but at the men on the bed. “I knocked, but- um, didn’t know i-if you heard me,” He coughed, “I should have- have waited, I’m sorry-”

The poor man looked on the brink of fainting, the hand grasping the doorknob unsteady with sweat. Instantly, Kieran stood from the bed and rushed over, “Hey, hey, y’alright?” He seemed ready to catch David if he passed out, or at least help him to the bed from where he stood leaning precariously on his good leg.

“Y-yeah, yeah, I’m-” David didn’t finish, grinding his hands into his eyesockets and whining deep in his throat. Arthur made to get up, but Kieran was too quick and was already half-shoving David towards the bed to sit. The wolf hunched over, still jamming the heels of his palms into his eyes, snapping his jaws and groaning.

“What’sa matter? We ain’t mad, David, you’re fine,” Arthur moved to the other side of him, giving Kieran a helpless look.

Eventually, David took his hands away, only to hold them out in front of him where they continued to tremble. “Maybe… maybe I shouldn’t come back with you. I-I’m better off on my own, I can take care of my leg, it’s not that bad. I c-can just take Darling and go back on my own, d-don’t have to bother you anymore-”

“No, hey, where’s this comin’ from?” Kieran tried to take David’s hands to steady them, but he flinched away, his hackles raised like when they first met. This made him bump into Arthur, which only made him more stressed, until he was hunched back over like he was trying to get as far away from them as possible.

“I-I- Both of you, I, I can’t help it- I need to go, I k-keep ruining everything,” His hands crept into his hair, tugging hard, guttural noises leaving his throat. “If I stay, i-it’ll only get worse and you’ll hate me, you’ll- I have to go, have to-”

The men either side of him met eyes, both of them realising at the same time what this was about. Arthur managed to ease the shaking wolfman back upright, and pulled him into a loose hug, stroking calming circles over his heaving shoulders. Inching closer, Kieran lifted one of his bony hands to join, performing the familiar massage over the back of David’s neck. Murmuring in a comforting tone, Arthur told him, “C’mon, s’okay. Use yer words, take as long as y’want, we’ll wait. We ain’t mad atchu, and we ain’t gonna be mad at anythin’ y’say. We can stay here long as it takes.”

It took a while, but gradually David untensed in his arms. He didn’t get any quieter, but he leant fully against Arthur and kneaded his palms against the other’s chest much like a cat would.

It took even longer for him to whisper, “You and Kieran… I-I want what you have, but- but not with anyone else. Only you two. I’m sorry.”

“Y’got nothing to be sorry for, darlin’.” Kieran shifted closer behind him, looping his arms around David’s middle. “We… we’d like that, a-as well, right, Arthur?”

Feeling David go still, Arthur nodded, “We’ve been wantin’ it since that first night in the mountains, but we didn’t wanna pressure y’into anythin’, make you feel like y’had to. We didn’t know if ya felt the same.”

“That morning, the stable, when I woke up alone-” David was pulling up, but not away, enough to look between them from where he sat in both their holds.

Looking sheepish, Kieran nodded, “We were talkin’ ‘bout the plan, takin’ you back to camp ‘n’ everythin’, but… yeah, y-yeah, then we decided to hold off on sayin’ anythin’ to you ‘cause we didn’t know how y’felt.”

Rather suddenly, David let out a bark of laughter, his head dropping into his hands. “I-I was so worried, so…”

“Well you don’t gotta worry no more, darlin’...” David turned to look at Arthur, disbelief and mirth in the wolf’s face. “If y’d have us.”

A few minutes later, the three were back where Kieran and Arthur were previously, however with David present this time. Arthur sat against the headboard, David cuddled against him on one side and Kieran sat up a little more on the other side of him. Picking up from where they left off, Kieran and Arthur swapped kisses and gentle touches until Arthur caught sight of David watching them, wide-eyed and blushing, out of the corner of his eye. He nudged Kieran away, and led David up to hesitantly straddle his legs.

For a moment, Arthur simply admired the man sat before him, raising a hand to trace over his hot cheek. Now that he was bathed, Arthur noticed the sheen to his hair, the volume as parts of it already broke free from the braid David had wrestled it into. His finger moved to twirl one of these strands, humming absentmindedly as his new partner cocked his head slightly. That head tilt, again - for a moment, in his mind’s eye, Arthur saw the peculiar wolf standing in the snow with a single padded, furry hand brandishing the deer.

Then, slowly, he leaned forward, guiding David until their lips met and he felt a little stuttering sigh against his mouth. His eyes were already closed, savouring the distinct taste of meat on the other’s tongue, which was jarring but felt right, only for the strange man-creature he held on his lap.

David whimpered, vocal as always, as he felt Kieran move in from behind and curve around to plant gentle kisses on his cheek, against his jaw and the ridge of his ear. The man’s hands rested on his elbows, sliding up to his wrists and back down again in similar, reassuring actions. Between them, they felt David unwind - his tail beating against Kieran - until he felt confident enough to turn on Arthur’s lap, leaning back to rest his head on the outlaw’s shoulder like a pillow. He pulled Kieran down over him to kiss similarly, both of them sleepy and smiling into the softest of kisses.

Unfortunately for Arthur, David found his position on his legs comfortable enough to slip off into sleep right then and there, with Kieran almost as a blanket. Kieran, as gently and quietly as he could, untangled himself from David’s hold to put out the lit candles on the fireplace and make sure the curtains were properly closed. Afterwards, he returned to the bed, sitting next to Arthur and leaning his head on the man’s shoulder, as they both watched the wolf sleep.

It didn’t take long for the usual to start - the whining, the crying, the tossing and turning that nearly sent him off of Arthur’s lap and onto the floor. Arthur watched, concern etched into his features, trying his best to comfort David in his sleep without waking him. He wasn’t sure whether you were supposed to wake someone when they were having nightmares, but he didn’t have to agonise for much longer - David tipped, losing his balance and almost toppling off the bed. Still half-asleep, he bolted upright, bewildered and still teary-eyed.

Suppressing a small laugh at the teetering, Arthur pulled him in close and stroked the back of his head, “You alright?” Kieran placed his hand between David’s shoulderblades, trying to ease some of the tension out of his muscles.

“Y-yeah, just… just nightmares again.” David looked shaken up, but he just sighed and buried himself deeper into their affectionate touches.

Lips pulling into a worried line, Kieran glanced to Arthur, “You… wanna talk about it? I get ‘em too, we… well, yer havin’ them every night. Might help.”

“No, it’s…” David had brought a hand to play with the hair at the back of Arthur’s neck, grinding his teeth loud enough for them to hear. He trailed off, then tried again. “If you p-promise not to call me a freak or something.”

“We’re never gonna call you anythin’ close, sugar. C’mon.” Arthur prodded.

The silence stretched out for a moment, until David coughed and blurted out, “I keep getting nightmares of killing you two.”

When there was no immediate reply, David started pulling away, but quickly there came the reassurances and shushing. He settled back into their arms, and started to elaborate.

“Ever since we met, since my brain started… caring about you, I guess, I’ve been having nightmares of turning and killing you both. Y’know, as a wolf, eating you. I wake up feeling ill. That’s… the reason I went to the Grizzlies in the first place, ‘cause I didn’t wanna hurt anyone, and now that I’m letting myself care about people, I’m terrified I’ll hurt you.”

“Hey, you don’t gotta be scared. You know when you turn, right?” Kieran soothed as he ran his fingers through the wolf’s hair, “If y’know, then we can plan - hell, maybe even take you back up there whenever it’s time so y’can be alone again. You don’t gotta worry about hurtin’ us, David, but we’re here all the time for you if y’are.” 

Chuckling, Arthur nodded, “He’s right. You ain’t a monster, okay? You ain’t alone anymore, you don’t gotta be alone anymore.”

“How is it you always know what to say…” There was lightness in David’s tone, thankfully, and they saw his tail swishing back and forth.

All three broke out into laughter, lazy, and beginning to fall victim to drowsiness. Finally out of the Grizzlies, they could strip down to their underclothes - Kieran his drawers, the others their union suits - and settle comfortably down in a thick quilt. It was a tight squeeze, laying down altogether, but with plenty of tangling together they made it work. David lay in the middle as usual, and he gave Kieran a gentle kiss before craning his head around to peck Arthur as well; with that, they drifted off, one by one, a pile of limbs and snoring.


	11. And enjoyed them and had some time over.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final stretch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> only one more chapter after dis :]

For once, they slept soundly, uninterrupted, until the sunlight through the cracks in the curtains became too much. And even then, they stayed wrapped around each other, half-asleep. Lemoyne could wait, the gang could wait, for now it was them and the Valentine morning sun and nothing else.

Eventually, David tired of Kieran playing with his hair and the increasing stuffiness of the bed, beginning to wriggle out from their arms, “C’mon, we should go. I’m getting too hot in here.”

With reluctant agreements, Kieran and Arthur similarly dislodged themselves and the three redressed. The outlaws restocked the horses with anything they took to the room, while David sat on the bed, antsy. When the last of it was cleared out, he donned his disguise once more and slung an arm around Kieran’s shoulders as they descended the hotel stairs.

They called thanks to the owner as they left, mounting back up and leaving Valentine behind them. Once they were clear of the last few houses, David relaxed, deflating on Kieran’s shoulder. “We’re goin’ further South,” the stablehand warned, “So you might wanna take that extra gear off soon. It gets _hot_.”

This time they only stopped once, mostly for a stretch of legs and for David to hand Arthur back his coat. He pointedly held onto the hat and bandana, pulling the latter down around his neck and smirking coyly at the man. Arthur didn’t protest, especially not when the wolf gave him a brief kiss for his troubles. They shared a meal, just the three of them, for the last time on the outskirts of Emerald Ranch.

“Strange, y’know…” David was laid out in the grass, full and sleepy. His yellow eyes flitted about under heavy eyelids, watching the clouds drift languidly across the midday sky.

“What is?” Arthur was upright next to him, picking his teeth with one chipped nail.

A smile spread over the young man’s face, one that stretched into an airy laugh. “Maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. Two outlaws are some of the first people to give me any kind of respect, or show any care for me. There’s a moral in that somewhere.”

Joining in the laughter, Kieran slipped down to lay next to him. “What’d I tell you? We’re different.”

“Maybe.” Kieran felt David’s padded hand slip into his, squeezing. “Hey, that one sorta looks like Arthur.”

“Which one? Next t’ the cat, facin’ to the side?”

“No, no… Further to the left, see, the hat.”

“What’re you two fools on about? Show me.”

“Oh, I see it! Yer right, ha. Sorta looks surly, too.”

“I told you!”

“There ain’t such thing as a goddamn surly-lookin’ cloud, Kieran. Both of you’re talkin’ outcher asses.”

“Nah, you just don’t wanna admit you’re surly.”

“I’ll show you surly, ya git- c’mere!”


	12. I love you. I'm glad I exist.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Contentment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and our story comes 2 a close!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
> thank u for reading :] pls leave a comment if you enjoyed!!! i love any comments so much

Crunching along the familiar shrouded path to Clemens Point on his horse, Arthur rolled his shoulders and grumbled, although he was in a fine mood. The sunlight was dimming, barely making its way through the leaves above and around him, and leaving dappled purple light on the trail. His guns clinked in their holsters, his stirrups jostling as he went, and he switched his reins into one hand to tug off his hat and wipe the sweat from his brow. With the evening came the muggy feeling of the swaddling temperature dropping bit by bit, the mosquitos still persistent as ever in the fading sunlight.

A gruff voice called out through the brush, “Who’s there?”

Arthur barely gave more than a grunt before he trotted right on past Bill, too exhausted to even flash him a glance. He rode right over to the hitching poles, giving the camp a quick once-over as he slowed Duffy. The flaps of Dutch’s tent were already closed, grating operatic music floating from inside as usual; most sat around finishing up the remnants of Pearson’s evening stew, or smoking on the perimetre.

Slipping down from Duffy’s saddle, Arthur spotted Kieran over at the scout camp cleaning Taima’s saddle. He stretched, cracking his back and hissing through his teeth, before strolling over towards the stableboy.

“Evenin’, Kieran.” He seemed to catch the other offguard as he took a seat next to him, the man jumping until he saw who it was. A smile quickly appeared on his face, greeting Arthur and shifting slightly closer.

“Where’s David? Didn’t see him when I came in,” Arthur began rolling a cigarette, sticking the tail end into the fire and taking a drag. He offered it to Kieran, who took a quick puff before replying.

“Out by the lake, I-I think. Saw him talkin’ to Jack earlier, and Abigail, but that musta been a couple hours ago.” Arthur nodded, leaning heavily on his partner. “How’re you doin’? They ain’t tellin’ me much, b-but I keep hearin’ ‘bout those two plantation families.”

Grunting, Arthur stood. “Ah, ‘sa buncha crap. I’ll tell y’bout it later, I wanna find David first.”

Giving a light chuckle, Kieran followed him up, “Alright. Gimme a sec, gotta put this back on Taima.”

As Kieran left to finish up his work for the day, Arthur snuffed his cigarette out in the dirt and sniffed, surveying camp once more. Lenny and Sean playing a game of five finger fillet at one of the tables, Mary-Beth and Tilly sat under one of the tarps reading together - he could almost ignore Micah’s obnoxious snores from where he sat propped up against a wagon.

A minute or so later, Kieran waved him over as the man began wandering towards the shoreline, and Arthur quickly tailed. He received a few, “Welcome back, Arthur,” and “Mr. Morgan!”’s as he passed, reciprocating each with a similar greeting or simple grunt.

When they reached the beach of Flat Iron Lake, they found David propped up against a log, reading what looked to be one of Mary-Beth’s novels. Kieran slipped down into the sand on one side of him, while Arthur slumped down on the log at the other. It took a few moments for David to even realise they were there, so absorbed in the book until Arthur gave a cough that made David’s ears prick.

The wolfman’s head raised, eyes wide and blinking quickly as if he was squinting against the sun - of which was quickly vanishing behind the water. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t… Got too caught up in the reading, aha.” His head turned to look up and see Arthur, “Arthur! You’re back, I missed you.” Lifting a hand to the man, Arthur accepted it and cradled it in his lap.

“Missed you too, darlin’, Kieran too.” he murmured, smiling softly and tiredly.

“How are you? Hope you’re not working yourself dead again. You should come home more often, sleep in an actual bed.” David rested his head against Arthur’s thigh, gazing out across the water. Next to him, Kieran picked up the discarded novel and began reading the back, mouthing the words slowly.

A sigh, and a hoarse laugh. “‘m fine, David. Y’worry too much.”

“I worry for a good reason, bastard.” the wolf returned, his tone light.

“Yeah, ‘course you do. Whatchu readin’?”

Eyes travelling to Kieran struggling through the blurb, David said, “Oh, just something Mary-Beth lended me. Some English noble romance - isn’t that interesting, but it passes the time.”

“Y’sure seemed interested a minute ago,” Kieran poked, handing the book back.

“Oh, be quiet.” David slung his legs over Kieran’s lap, rolling his eyes. “ _You_ gotten up to anything interesting lately, Arthur?”

One of Arthur’s hands moved to work its way through his companion’s hair, fiddling with the strands. “Mm, I guess. Helped out these two fools from the families we’re scammin’ - boy from one family, girl from the other. They got some kinda forbidden love thing goin’, wantin’ me to deliver letters between ‘em.”

“Aw, look at you, regular old matchmaker.” David laughed, his cheeks growing red.

Scoffing, Arthur gave a little tug at the man’s roots. “I’m only doin’ it ‘cause they’re payin’ me.”

“You say that, Morgan, but yer always doin’ these things w-whether they pay you or not. I think yer just a softie.” said Kieran, a teasing edge to his otherwise sincere voice. “Yer a nice man, whether you wanna believe it or not.”

“You just go on believin’ that, ya dimwit. Remind me who threw you on the backa their horse ‘n’ said they’d break ev’ry bone in yer body?”

A triumphant note in his voice, Kieran shot back, “An’ remind _me_ whose now callin’ that same dimwit “darlin’”? Yer all talk, Arthur.”

“He’s right, Arthur - you’re a kind man, God help you. You can shoot as many people as you want, but you’re always gonna be the man who took the bullet out of my leg, like it or not.”

“Sure, sure,” Arthur let himself laugh, cheeks hot with the praise his lovers were showering him in. Often he couldn’t see any reason either of them would want to stay with him, seeing himself only as valuable as the next score he could bring into camp for Dutch, but they stayed with him throughout anything and it was jarring compared to the self-deprecating thoughts that clung to him like sweat.

David had been at camp for a month or two now, and his leg was almost back to full working condition thanks to plenty of bedrest and limping around (on a better-suited crutch that Charles had helpfully fashioned from the branch they brought back). It killed the man to just lay in Arthur’s cot all day, which the outlaw understood all too well, but the most they allowed him to do was help the girls with sewing or washing. No carrying crates or bags of feed around, no chopping wood - no strenuous labour, not until he could walk freely without a crutch. It drove the man crazy to feel so useless, but they reassured him he’d be much better suited to camp chores once he was fully healed.

Surprisingly, most of the gang had taken his appearance in stride and it was barely a topic of conversation now. Of course, people like Micah couldn’t be trusted not to step on nerves, but David seemed to have scared him off (at least for the time being) with a particularly nasty claw mark to the face. He was still congratulated on this occasionally.

They had agreed by this point that David would not be returning to the Grizzlies - alone, at least. Once, since meeting him, had they ridden back up, and it was when he was due to turn. For one night, Arthur and Kieran sat in the schoolhouse at Colter, listening to their lover barrel around in the snow. Then it was back home, to a lot of hot stew and special tea Grimshaw had provided a recipe for, trying to hide her concern.

Arthur had promised David that once he was better, he’d teach him to properly shoot. He knew the basics, for hunting, but he insisted he wanted to be able to properly defend himself and his new family, and not sit helplessly if danger came their way. Similarly, David told Kieran he’d help him with his chores as soon as the pair allowed him to.

David slotted into camp life about as easily as they could have expected. It was bumpy, as early days often were - with them perhaps coddling him slightly too much on certain days and him snapping at them, or communication faltering between them with someone’s feelings getting trodden on as a result. But all three were trying, and they made it work between them.

The sun fully disappeared beneath the rippling lake, with the first night breeze flickering over the group, a single strand of chill air in the humid fog clinging to their skin. And David sighed, content finally to lay back and let it pass without a word.


End file.
